“You need to figure out why you create. What is the purpose and the reason why you want to create?”
This was YouTube sensation Zach King’s advice to a room filled with both government ministers and school children last Thursday at the Ministry of Education’s National Science, Technology and Innovation Festival (NSTI).
While you may not be familiar with his work – or understand why he’s “Internet Famous” – your kids could probably spot his “magic tricks” within a second while scrolling through their phones.
Whether you want to label him an influencer, creator or magician it’s irrelevant. Zach is one of the most popular personalities on social media and has a talent he truly enjoys sharing with the world: special effects and filmmaking.
Unlike most Internet sensations du jour who share blurry snaps of their lunch with their followers, Zach’s content requires hours of energy and an entire team – something he’s very upfront about – to produce. Which is exactly why he was invited to open the festival last week.
Zach kick it off with a bang, sharing a quick “magic trick” with the help of his team before giving the audience a few words of advice: find something you, figure out why you’re doing it and share it with the world.
“For me, it’s the people,” he said. “Ever since I was a kid, I loved making home videos and showing to my family and, eventually, to my friends.”
After his opening talk, Zach spent some time walking around the festival, chatting with fans and checking out students’ science experiments and projects on display.
In the evening, he joined fellow regional content creators Talal al Rashed (@talal.alrashed), Omar Borkan (@omarborkan), DJ Bliss (@DJBlissDubai), Badou Jack (@badoujack) and others at Hell’s Kitchen (@hellskitchendubai) in Caesars Palace Bluewaters.
The following afternoon, Zach met with fans during a meet-and-greet session at the NSTI’s family festival. He participated in the #NSTIchallenge and took photos with eager crowd members.
After the meet-and-greet he headed over to fusion restaurant Teatro, at Towers Rotana near Emirates Towers. Over bites of truffle pizza and salmon sashimi, he chatted with some of the region’s biggest content creators including Noor Stars, Mo Vlogs, and Ahmed Al-Nasheet (a.k.a. DVLZGame) and team members.
While he’s won awards for his work in the past (like the Shorty Award for Best Vine Artist he picked up at their 8th awards ceremony) and boasts a huge audience online (spanning across Facebook, YouTube and Instagram) Zach is an extremely humble guy who is passionate about what he does.
The overall take away from his time at the NSTI festival? Whatever interests you choose to pursue, stay passionate and the success will come.
Follow Zach King on Instagram @zachking and @zachkinglife.
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