Brent Rivera

For the English river, see River Brent.

Brent Rivera
Rivera in 2020
Personal information
Born
Brent Austin Rivera

(1998-01-09) January 9, 1998 (age 27)
Huntington Beach, California, U.S.
EducationHuntington Beach High School
Occupations
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2009–present
Genres
Subscribers36.1 million[1]
Total views9.95 billion[1]
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers2015
10,000,000 subscribers2019
Last updated: January 15, 2025

Brent Austin Rivera (born January 9, 1998) is an American influencer and actor who first gained popularity on the now-defunct video hosting service Vine. He has large followings on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.[2]

Biography

Brent Austin Rivera[‡ 1]: 0:07  was born on January 9, 1998.[3][‡ 2] He has Mexican and Italian ancestry, and is from Huntington Beach, California, where he still lives.[‡ 1]: 0, 14, 0:43  Rivera's younger sister, Lexi,[4] is also an influencer and appeared with him in the web series Brobot.[5] He also has two older brothers.[‡ 1]: 3:50 

Rivera was interested in acting and auditioned for commercials and TV shows in seventh grade. He did not want to be under a producer's oversight, so he started posting on social media platforms such as Instagram, Snapchat and the now-defunct Vine in his early teens. Rivera became a prominent Vine star.[6] He also found a sizable fanbase on Instagram, where his conventionally attractive, teen idol–like features and pinup haircut helped him gain 600 thousand followers by 2015. One simple selfie earned him 68 thousand likes; academic Alice Marwick wrote that since "Rivera looks like a celebrity, [...] on Instagram, he is treated as one."[7] Because he lives close to Los Angeles, Rivera was able to attend high school and work meetings, something many teenage influencers could not do.[6][8]

Rivera's father, John, did not pay much attention to the time his son spent on social media until one day when they attended a local hockey game. They were sitting on the bleachers when another parent came up to Rivera and asked him, "Are you Brent?", before asking him to look up at her daughters. The girls started screaming. John stared, bewildered.[8]

Rivera is the co-founder and CEO of Amp Studios, a talent incubator and content group that in 2020 generated 10 billion social media views each month. His business partner is Matt Levine, who is also his manager. Their goal is to tap into media monetization and become "a Disney Channel for the digital generation."[9][10] He also has a clothing line called Relatable[9][11] and started a pop culture-centric podcast called So Relatable in 2021.[12] In 2015, he participated in Coca-Cola's #MakeItHappy campaign and worked with Hollister Co. in 2019 on their anti-bullying campaign.[13]

Filmography

Web roles

Year Title Role Network Notes Ref.
2017 Alexander IRL Alexander YouTube Red Also producer [14][15]
2018 Brobot Gil Brat 5 episodes [5]
2018–2019 Light as a Feather Issac Salcedo Hulu Main role; 2 seasons [16][9]
2019 Brent Rivera's Dream Vacation Himself AwesomenessTV 7 episodes [17]

Television

Year Title Role Network Notes Ref.
2020 Group Chat Himself Nickelodeon 1 episode (season 1); Main role (season 2) [18]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Result Ref.
2015 2015 MTV Music Awards Best Dressed Won [19]
2019 2019 Teen Choice Awards Choice Male Web Star Nominated [20]
9th Streamy Awards Best in Lifestyle Nominated [21]
2020 10th Streamy Awards Juanpa Zurita's Creator Honor Award Won [22]
2021 11th Streamy Awards Creator Of The Year Nominated [23]
Lifestyle Nominated

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Rivera, Brent (July 15, 2019). Brent Rivera Answers the Web's Most Searched Questions (Video). AwesomenessTV. Retrieved August 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Rivera, Brent [@BrentRivera] (January 9, 2019). "it's my birthday today" (Tweet). Retrieved January 6, 2020 – via Twitter.

References

  1. ^ a b "About Brent Rivera". YouTube.
  2. ^ Bertoni, Steven. "Top Creators 2024: The Influencers Turning Buzz Into Billions". Forbes. Retrieved December 4, 2024.
  3. ^ Rullo, Sam (January 9, 2014). "Meet Brent Rivera, The Internet's Favorite 16-Year-Old You've Never Heard Of". Bustle. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  4. ^ Chubb, Hannah (September 24, 2020). "Brent and Lexi Rivera Spill Sibling Secrets in PEOPLE's New YouTube Series". People. Retrieved April 6, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Booth, Ali (March 24, 2018). "Brent Rivera to Star in New Digital Series 'Brobot' Alongside Younger Sister Lexi". Tiger Beat. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  6. ^ a b Cunningham, Stuart; Craig, David (2019). Social Media Entertainment: The New Intersection of Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Postmillennial Pop. NYU Press. pp. 82, 88, 110–111. ISBN 978-1-4798-9028-6.
  7. ^ Marwick, Alice E. (January 1, 2015). "Instafame: Luxury Selfies in the Attention Economy". Public Culture. 27 (1): 155–156. doi:10.1215/08992363-2798379. ISSN 0899-2363.
  8. ^ a b Lorenz, Taylor (January 17, 2018). "Raising a social-media star". The Atlantic. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  9. ^ a b c Whateley, Dan (March 10, 2020). "Inside YouTube star Brent Rivera's content company, which created a superhero for TikTok and wants to become the next Disney Channel". Business Insider. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  10. ^ Whateley, Dan; Perelli, Amanda (April 24, 2020). "The top 19 talent managers and agents for TikTok influencers who are helping build the careers of a new generation of digital stars". Business Insider. Archived from the original on April 14, 2020. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  11. ^ Joy, Alexis (April 17, 2022). "VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE: Brent Rivera Talks About His Exciting, Upcoming Projects And His Dream Way To Get Slimed In His Interview With AlexisJoyVIPAccess At The 2022 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards!". Alexis Joy VIP Access. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  12. ^ Weiss, Geoff (March 24, 2021). "Brent Rivera, Ben Azelart Launch Podcasts Alongside Their 'Amp' Content Studio". TubeFilter. Retrieved September 4, 2022.
  13. ^ Underwood, Khalea (September 30, 2016). "YouTube Sensation Brent Rivera Is Hollister's Secret Weapon for Anti-Bullying Campaign". Us Weekly. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  14. ^ Hamedy, Saba (January 13, 2017). "YouTuber Brent Rivera and 'Black-ish' star Marcus Scribner talk new teen comedy 'Alexander IRL'". Mashable. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  15. ^ Klassen, Anna (August 31, 2016). "'Alexander IRL' Star Brent Rivera Talks Social Media Stardom & Why He Has A Bloody Nose". Bustle. Archived from the original on December 21, 2020. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  16. ^ Pedersen, Erik (June 4, 2018). "'Light As A Feather' Cast Set: Liana Liberato, Haley Ramm, Peyton List, Others Join Hulu & AwesomenessTV Drama". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  17. ^ Hayes, Dade (January 27, 2016). "Viacom Digital Studios Slate Features Tana Mongeau, Eva Gutowski, SpongeBob – NewFronts". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on April 25, 2020. Retrieved April 25, 2020.
  18. ^ "Nickelodeon Ups Order for Two New Remotely Produced Hit Shows - Group Chat and Unfiltered" (Press release). Nickelodeon. August 27, 2020. Retrieved September 11, 2020 – via The Futon Critic.
  19. ^ "Brent Rivera Net Worth 2018 – How Wealthy is the Social Media Star?". Gazette Review. June 28, 2017. Archived from the original on June 21, 2019. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  20. ^ "Teen Choice Awards: Full List of Winners". Billboard. August 11, 2019. Archived from the original on August 12, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  21. ^ "Streamy Awards 2019: The Complete Winners List". Variety. December 13, 2019. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved April 24, 2020.
  22. ^ "Here Are Your 2020 Streamy Award Winners". December 13, 2020. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  23. ^ "11th Annual Winners - The Streamy Awards". streamys.org. Retrieved April 23, 2022.