Ze Frank

Infobox Internet celebrity
name = Ze Frank

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caption = Ze Frank hosting the web awards at SXSWi 2007
birthname = Hosea Jan Frank
birthdate = birth date and age|1972|3|31
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nationality = American
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genre = Comedy
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notable works = the show
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homepage = [http://www.zefrank.com/ www.zefrank.com]

Ze Frank (born Hosea Jan Frank on March 31, 1972, first name IPA2|zeɪ, rhymes with "say") is an American online performance artist, composer, humorist and public speaker based in Brooklyn, New York.cite web | last = St. John | first = Warren | title = "And You're So Funny? Write My Script" | publisher = The New York Times | date = June 18, 2006 | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/18/fashion/sundaystyles/18ze.html?ex=1308283200&en=75012f528a1baac1&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss | accessdate = 2006-12-20 ]

Personal life

Frank was born to German-American parents and raised in a suburb of Albany, New York. He graduated from Brown University in 1995 where he studied neuroscience. Information given in "the show" indicates that he was educated at a Montessori school and also has a sister.

Beginning at Brown, Frank played guitar and sang lead vocals for a funk/jam band called Dowdy Smack until its dissolution in 1998.

Career

In 2001, Frank created an [http://www.zefrank.com/invite/swfs/index2.html online birthday invitation] and sent it to seventeen of his closest friends. Forwarded wildly, the invitation soon generated millions of hits and over 100 gigabytes of daily web traffic to Frank's personal Web site. [cite news | last = Kukec | first = Anna Marie | title = Web designer's email invite forwarded millions of times | publisher = Daily Herald | date = April 23, 2001] The site grew to include interactive group projects, short films, animations, and video games, many Flash-based, including children's educational videos featuring handy tips such as "Don't vacuum your face".

Frank won a 2002 Webby Award for Best Personal Website. In 2005, Frank was featured in Time Magazine's "50 Coolest Websites". [ cite web | last = Murray Buechner | first = Marryanne | title = 50 Coolest Websites 2005 | publisher = Time | date = June 20, 2005 | url = http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1073316,00.html | accessdate = 2006-12-20 ] Frank debuted onstage at the Gel conference in 2003, and later spoke at the TED Conference in 2004 and 2005. [ [http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1895918195820925057&hl=en Ze Frank's speech] at the TED Conference (2004) Monterey, California (video)]

On March 17, 2006, Frank launched a daily video blog known simply as "the show with zefrank". Each tightly edited three-to-five-minute episode combined "Daily Show"-style commentary on world events with songs, observations, and occasional games or challenges for his viewers to participate in. "the show" quickly became the most popular portion of his site and helped to increase Frank's visibility in the blogosphere while also attracting the interest of those in the "old media" of film and television. Frank signed with the United Talent Agency of Beverly Hills, California for representation. The show ended on March 17, 2007, exactly one year after its start.

Frank has served as an adjunct professor at ITP/NYU, Parsons School of Design, and SUNY Purchase.

Appearances

* In February 2004 Frank appeared on the TED Conference with a talk titled [http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/87 What's so funny about the Web?]
* On May 18, 2007, Frank spoke at the Ruby on Rails conference, [http://railsconf.org RailsConf] , in Portland, Oregon. [ [http://conferences.oreillynet.com/cs/rails2007/view/e_sess/14336 Ze Frank Keynote] at Ruby Central and O'Reilly Media's [http://conferences.oreillynet.com/rails/ RailsConf] (2007) Portland, Oregon]
* Frank was a substitute host on the July 23, 2007 edition of the PRI public radio show "Fair Game with Faith Salie". [ [http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/fairgame/.jukebox?action=viewMedia&mediaId=610380&podcastId=2743 Fair Game: Hasan Elahi, Rachelle Garniez, Harvey Pekar ] ]
* Frank spoke at Rochester Institute of Technology as part of the monthly "Caroline Werner Gannett Lecture Series" on October 3, 2007. [ [http://www.rit.edu/~cwg/ze_frank.php3 The Caroline Werner Gannett Lecture Series - Ze Frank] at [http://www.rit.edu Rochester Institute of Technology] .]
* On March 2008, Frank MCed the Graphex Gala Awards Ceremony in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. http://www.gdc.net/graphex/winners/index.php
* Ze was a featured guest on The Sound of Young America on July 17, 2008 [ [http://www.vimeo.com/1341185?pg=embed&sec=1341185 Ze Frank on The Sound of Young America] ] .
* On 6 October 2008, Ze was the keynote speaker at the Kalido User Conference.

References

External links

* [http://www.zefrank.com/ Ze Frank's site]
* [http://www.zefrank.com/wiki/ zefrank.com wiki]
* [http://imdb.com/name/nm1427421/ "Ze Frank"] on IMDB
* [http://video.on.nytimes.com/?fr_story=c6bc3a3add5740b12bc8f490af760e3480993468 Warren St. John interviews Ze Frank] (June 18, 2006) for "The New York Times" (video)
* [http://www.goodexperience.com/blog/archives/000191.php/ Interview: Ze Frank, performance artist] by Mark Hurst of goodexperience.com on December 4, 2002
* [http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2006/07/ze_frank_youtub.html "Ze Frank, YouTube, and Making Money"] by Heather Green, "BusinessWeek", July 28, 2006
* [http://ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=z_frank Video] of Ze Frank discussion of the internet at the February 2004 TED Conference in Monterey, CA. Duration 19:42
* [http://cecilvortex.com/swath/2007/03/29/an_interview_with_ze_frank.html Ze Frank on creativity, an interview with about-creativity.com March 29, 2007]