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David Freiheit

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David Freiheit
Personal information
Born
David Freiheit

(1979-05-23) May 23, 1979 (age 45)
Occupation(s)YouTuber, Commercial litigator
Websitevivafrei.com
YouTube information
Also known asViva Frei
Channels
Years active2012–present
Genres
Subscribers498,000
Total views102 million
100,000 subscribers2019

Last updated: September 17, 2021

David Freiheit (born May 23, 1979), is a Canadian lawyer,[1] former political candidate[2] and YouTuber under the pseudonym Viva Frei.[3]

Biography

Freiheit grew up in Montreal, Quebec, as the youngest of five siblings.[4] He enjoyed creating videos.[5] He studied Creative Arts at Dawson College and received his Bachelor of Arts at McGill University. He then received his civil law degree from Université Laval where he was the editor-in-chief of the university's law journal.[4]

In 2007, Freiheit began practising law, following in the footsteps of his father and older siblings.[6] He worked professionally for the prominent commercial litigation firm Borden Ladner Gervais for six years,[7] but left to be a freelance litigator after his first child to have a more favourable work-life balance,[3] starting a firm called Freiheit Legal.[8]

For the first few years of his YouTube career, Freiheit was a practising commercial litigator, and he struggled to find time to create his videos.[9] In January 2018, he discontinued his litigation practice and turned full-time to YouTube.[10]

On July 22, 2021, Freiheit announced the launch of his campaign to run for Parliament as a member of the People's Party of Canada.[11]

YouTube career

Early content and awards (2014-2019)

Freiheit started his YouTube career in early 2014 by posting videos of him lip syncing to various pop songs while running obstacle courses dressed in a full suit.[12] These videos were not receiving many views, so Freiheit decided to try another style; in late 2014, Freiheit started posting nature-related stunts.[13][14] He gained popularity when he posted a video of a squirrel picking up his GoPro action camera and carrying it up a tree.[15][16] Freiheit then started posting videos of stunts involving the use of a drone.[17][18]

In 2016, Freiheit won a GoPro Award for his use of their cameras in his videos.[19] He won a Shorty Social Good Award for Best Overall Youtube Presence in 2017.[20]

In January 2019, Freiheit was invited by GoPro to be a featured panellist at the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[21]

Style change (2019-present)

From 2014 to 2019, Freiheit had only accumulated around 60,000 subscribers. In April 2019, he decided that since law-related content was by far his channel's most popular genre, he would change the style of his channel and only post vlogs analysing different current issues from a legal standpoint.[22][23] He started a second channel, "Viva Family", as a place to maintain his former content style.[24]

Before running for the PPC, Freiheit had classified the political stance he takes on his channel as non-partisan,[25] claiming that the internet, through the use of the terms right-wing or left-wing, only succeeds in "pigeonholing, categorizing, dichotomizing, just reducing a complex individual to either right or left in all of their... beliefs.".[26] In an interview, he described his channel's content as including a "pretty decent balance of left and right".[6]

In 2019 attorney Robert Barnes began making live weekly Sunday evening appearances on Freiheit's channel.[27] The series continued on a weekly basis, often featuring a notable guest, where the two discuss recent legal and political event. [28]

Political career

Freiheit ran in the 2021 Canadian federal election to become a Member of Parliament for the People's Party of Canada in the riding of Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount.[29][30] In July 2021, Freiheit created a third channel, "Viva PPC", as a place to feature his political content.[31] He lost his electoral bid, coming in sixth place in the riding with 3.3% of votes.[32]

Electoral record

2021 Canadian federal election: Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Marc Garneau 24,593 53.84 -2.45
New Democratic Emma Elbourne-Weinstock 8,753 19.16 +3.75
Conservative Mathew Kaminski 6,407 14.03 +2.58
Bloc Québécois Jordan Craig Larouche 2,409 5.27 +0.59
Green Sam Fairbrother 1,829 4.00 -6.72
People's David Freiheit 1,498 3.28 +2.16
Marxist–Leninist Rachel Hoffman 126 0.28 +0.14
Christian Heritage Geofryde Wandji 65 0.14
Total valid votes 45,680
Total rejected ballots
Turnout 62.17 -4.06
Eligible voters 45,680
Liberal hold Swing -3.10
Source: Elections Canada[33]

References

  1. ^ "Interview With a Vlogger: Determined Viva Frei and His Viral Videos". Medium. April 12, 2018. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  2. ^ Henriquez, Gloria (September 15, 2021). "Notre-Dame-de-Grâce—Westmount federal riding candidates face off in debate - Montreal | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved October 6, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Moore, Karl (April 25, 2020). "From Lawyer To YouTuber: How David Freiheit Found His Niche". Forbes. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  4. ^ a b "David Freiheit". Freiheit Legal. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  5. ^ Tang, Pency (March 14, 2019). "Alumni spotlight: David Freiheit". McGill University. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Know Your Vlawg: An Interview with Viva Frei". September 25, 2019. Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  7. ^ Tison, Florence (April 29, 2020). "D'avocat à YouTubeur" (in French). Droit. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  8. ^ "David Freiheit is the founder of Freiheit Legal Inc., a Montreal boutique law firm specializing in commercial litigation and general corporate law". Montreal Gazette. August 31, 2012. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  9. ^ Murphy, Eliza (August 29, 2016). "Dad Spoofs Jason Bourne With Hilarious (Baby) 'Bjorn Identity' Video". ABC News. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  10. ^ Deshaies, Sarah (January 12, 2018). "Quebec's YouTube stars upload their lives". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  11. ^ Freiheit, David (July 22, 2021). "I'm Running for Parliament!". Viva Frei. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  12. ^ "Montreal dad enlists squirrel to help remove daughter's tooth". Hamilton Spectator. June 24, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  13. ^ Watters, Hayden (June 25, 2016). "How nutty! Montreal dad gets squirrel to yank out daughter's tooth". CBC. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  14. ^ "Hot Water + Freezing Temperature + Camera = Amazing Videos!". Indian Express. January 2, 2018. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  15. ^ Sirucek, Stefan (November 22, 2014). "Watch: This Is What Happens When You Give a Squirrel a GoPro". National Geographic. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  16. ^ Griggs, Mary Beth (August 9, 2016). "This Is What The World Looks Like From a Squirrel's Point Of View". Popular Science. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  17. ^ Prestwich, Emma (December 7, 2016). "David Freiheit, Quebec Man, Uses Drone To Wax His Leg". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  18. ^ "Quebec father-daughter duo get park squirrels to yank out baby tooth from girl's mouth". National Post. June 24, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  19. ^ "GoPro Awards: Squirrel Runs Off With GoPro". GoPro. August 12, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  20. ^ "Breakout YouTuber - Winner in YouTube Presence". Shorty Awards. Retrieved April 19, 2020.
  21. ^ "David Freiheit invited to the CES in Las Vegas". CTV News Breakfast Television. January 21, 2019. Retrieved April 22, 2020.
  22. ^ Mendes, David (October 10, 2019). "David Freiheit – Merging Law, Popularization, and Content Creation". Papa Phd. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  23. ^ "David Freiheit, l'avocat YouTubeur" (in French). Les Affaires. April 21, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  24. ^ Macdavid, Thomas (April 22, 2020). "A Montrealer Turned His Street Into A Massive Sock Dartboard To Play From The Roof (Video)". MTL. Retrieved April 23, 2020.
  25. ^ "Viva Frei". April 27, 2020. p. 11:10 (timestamp). Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  26. ^ "Viva Frei". April 27, 2020. p. 2:10 (timestamp). Retrieved June 10, 2020.
  27. ^ Freiheit, David (November 1, 2019). "EP. 1 - Viva & Barnes: Robert Barnes - From Covington Catholic to Alex Jones- Viva Frei Vlawg". YouTube.com. Viva Frei. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  28. ^ Freiheit, David (November 1, 2019). "EP. 1 - Viva & Barnes: Robert Barnes - From Covington Catholic to Alex Jones- Viva Frei Vlawg". YouTube.com. Viva Frei. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  29. ^ "NOTRE-DAME-DE-GRÂCE—WESTMOUNT DAVID FREIHEIT". PPC. Retrieved July 27, 2021.
  30. ^ Ceausu, Joel (September 4, 2021). "Election 2021: NDG–Westmount". The Suburban. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  31. ^ "Viva PPC". YouTube. David Freiheit. Retrieved August 18, 2021.
  32. ^ "Election Results – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved February 17, 2022.
  33. ^ "List of confirmed candidates – September 20, 2021 Federal Election". Elections Canada. Retrieved September 2, 2021.