Meghan Camarena Explained
Meghan Camarena |
Birth Name: | Meghan Camarena |
Birth Date: | 17 July 1987 |
Birth Place: | Fresno, California, U.S. |
Occupation: | YouTube personality, television host, actress |
Channel Name: | Strawburry17 |
Channel Name2: | Strawburry17Plays |
Channel Direct Url2: | https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4IgEVgl6t18-89GPekZtAw |
Channel Name3: | LifeBurry |
Years Active: | 2007–present |
Subscribers: | 1.01 million (main channel) |
Views: | 143 million (main channel) |
Silver Button: | y |
Gold Button: | yes |
Gold Year: | 2015 |
Stats Update: | June 15, 2021 |
Meghan Camarena (born July 17, 1987), known by her online pseudonym Strawburry17, is an American YouTube personality, television host, actress and comic book writer. She has worked on a number of videos, web series, and films, gaining popularity as a YouTube star, and participating as a contestant with fellow YouTuber Joey Graceffa on The Amazing Race 22 and The Amazing Race: All-Stars. She was an on-screen host for video content at Teen.com and was the backstage correspondent for season 2 of the TruTV talent contest Fake Off. In 2017, she and fellow YouTuber Jimmy Wong co-hosted the video game themed variety show Polaris Primetime which was part of Disney's inaugural "D XP" summer programming block on Disney XD. She’s also the co-writer of the Radiant Pink miniseries.[1]
Early life
Camarena was born in Fresno, California on July 17, 1987[2] and grew up in Modesto, California.[3] In her Draw My Life video, she said she had two older half-brothers from her parents' previous marriages, and younger twin brothers later. She would often take care of her younger brothers while her father was away and because her mother had suffered a bevy of physical problems and was on medication a lot.[2] She graduated from Davis High School in 2005.[4] Although she said she did okay in school, because of her mother's hardships, she said she was fairly depressed, had taken up drinking, and in college she had an on-and-off relationship. Her grandmother took her to church where she made peace with God, left her boyfriend, and joined a Bible college internship program.[2] [5]
During this time, she learned video production for her youth group. She was inspired by some YouTubers, and began making home videos.[2] She started up a YouTube channel called strawburry17 in 2007 where she would do video blogging, lip dubbing,[6] and would later have videos on "unboxing cutesy Japanese toys, taste-testing weird foods from around the world, and reviewing apps and games." Camarena said that she chose her AOL screen name based on a Strawberry Shortcake cartoon, and that her birthday was on the 17th, but since "strawberry17" was taken, she went with a different spelling. Her first music video was a lip dub of "I'm a Gummy Bear" and featured her brother.[7] [2] Her videos soon became popular and she was getting offers from record and media companies.[2]
Career
In 2010, she began corresponding with YouTuber Joey Graceffa who was located in Boston and who was planning to move to Los Angeles. In 2011, she met YouTuber Jimmy Wong who had encouraged her to enter a YouTube video contest called Next Up where the prize was $35k. She said she entered that in the last minute.[2] She was selected as one of the 25 winners,[8] and attended a YouTube boot camp in Manhattan.[9] Using her Next Up money, she moved to Los Angeles In 2012, a YouTube upstart company called Big Frame arranged for her a trip to India where she made videos for the nonprofit organization Water.org.[6] [10] In Los Angeles, she produced videos for Teen.com and also hosted their YouTube channel along with Graceffa.[11] [2] [12] The same year, when Google updated its analytics to throw out inactive and closed subscriber accounts, Camarena said she started treating her YouTube channel more like a company rather than just an Internet channel. She had produced videos five days a week.[13] She would also prepare videos in a large batch for the season, so it could run over several months.[14] She and Graceffa participated in season 22 of The Amazing Race, where they competed as "Team Cute" and finished fifth overall.[15] [16] [17] They would return for the All-Stars season, where they were eliminated in the third episode and finished ninth overall.[18] [19] Also in 2014, she produced a zombie-themed short film called The Grey Road which was funded by Ron Howard's New Form Incubator program.[20] [21]
In 2015, she was the backstage correspondent for the second season of Fake Off, which was a talent show broadcast on TruTV.[22] [23] [24] She signed a deal with Disney's Maker Studios where she worked on creating online content in the entertainment industry.[25] [26] Her YouTube channel went over 1 million subscribers.[27] In October of that year, she and other YouTube creators made a project called Spider-Man Murder Mystery which ran on Instagram. Camarena played character Gwen Stacy, who also goes by "Spider-Gwen".[28] [29] She starred as one of the eight correspondents of Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed, a multi-part documentary on video games, where she followed people involved in e-sports.[30] In 2017, she and Wong were selected to co-host the video game themed variety show Polaris Primetime which was created as part of Disney's "D XP" programming block on Disney XD.[31] In 2018, she and YouTubers Markiplier, Jacksepticeye and LuzuGames launched Twitch channels.[32] In 2020, she and Power Rangers Hyperforce director Melissa Flores released a RPG web series called The Unleashed on Twitch.
In February 2022, Camarena made her comic book debut co-writing the 12th issue of Radiant Black alongside Kyle Higgins.[33] Late that year it was announced that Camarena would be co-writing a Radiant Pink miniseries, a part of Image's Massive-Verse, with Melissa Flores, with the first issue set to debut in December 2022.[34] In April 2023, it was announced that Camarena and Flores would be doing a one-shot comic continuation of Power Rangers Hyperforce, that is set to release in July 2023 by Boom! Studios.[35]
Camarena has appeared at several conventions including multiple VidCons,[36] [37] SXSW,[38] Playlist Live[39] [40] and various Comic-Cons.[41] In 2016, she was an L.A. Biz Women of Influence honoree. She cited Tina Fey and Amy Poehler as some of her biggest influences and inspirations. She and YouTuber Jacksepticeye hosted the Level Up! games panel at the D23 Expo 2017.[42] [43]
Personal life
Camarena is half-Mexican and half German-Irish.[44] She lives in the Los Angeles area. She moved to Los Angeles in 2011.[45] She identifies as queer.[46] In addition to attending YouTube related conventions, she has participated as a cosplayer, an activity she has done since 2011.[47] [48] [49] She, Graceffa and YouTuber Catherine Valdes had also created a band called The Tributes with music video parodies based on The Hunger Games film series.
Filmography
External links
Notes and References
- Web site: RADIANT BLACK'S MASSIVE-VERSE OF SUPERHEROES TO EXPAND WITH RADIANT PINK LAUNCH IN DECEMBER . 2022-09-25 . Image Comics . en.
- Draw My Life - Strawburry17 . June 30, 2013 . Strawburry17 . July 24, 2017 . YouTube.
- News: Modesto YouTube star Meghan Camarena gets gig hosting gamer-geared Disney show . Clark . Pat . June 27, 2017 . . July 25, 2017.
- News: Davis High grad returns for another crack at $1 million on 'The Amazing Race' . Rowland . Marijke . February 21, 2014 . The Modesto Bee . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: short testimony. strawburry17 . September 18, 2007 . LiveJournal. July 28, 2017.
- News: On YouTube, Amateur Is the New Pro . Walker . Rob . June 28, 2012 . . July 25, 2017.
- Web site: I'm A Gummy Bear. Strawburry17. August 24, 2008. July 28, 2017. YouTube.
- Web site: YouTube NextUp Winners Announced, 25 Creators to Get $35k. Marc . Hustvedt . May 2, 2011. . July 24, 2017.
- News: At YouTube Boot Camp, Future Stars Polish Their Acts. Jennifer. Preston. May 30, 2011. The New York Times. New York . B3 . July 27, 2017.
- Web site: Camarena. Meghan. TRAVELING IN INDIA WITH WATER.ORG. YouTube. September 18, 2017. March 22, 2012.
- Web site: Teen.com Is Going to VidCon 2013! . Cohen . Jess . August 1, 2013 . . July 24, 2017 . July 28, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170728043302/http://www.teen.com/2013/08/01/entertainment/teen-vidcon-2013/ . dead .
- Web site: Walker. Rob. On YouTube, Amateur Is the New Pro. The New York Times. September 18, 2017. June 28, 2012.
- Web site: A YouTube star tells us why she felt like a 'pawn' in Google's game . Robinson . Melia . July 31, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Meghan Camarena: YouTubers Are 'The New Trendsetters' . https://web.archive.org/web/20160401033341/http://www.accesshollywood.com/videos/meghan-camarena-youtubers-are-the-new-trendsetters-52872/ . dead . April 1, 2016 . July 29, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: The Amazing Race Season 22 episode 10 . April 29, 2013 . CBS.com . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Amazing Race's Joey and Meghan: It's Our Fault for Not Being Thorough . Eng . Joyce . April 29, 2013 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: 'Amazing Race': Joey and Meghan on Their Elimination . Nordyke . Kimberly . April 29, 2013 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: The Amazing Race Season 24 episode 3 . March 10, 2014 . CBS.com . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: 'Amazing Race' Season 24 Cast: Eliminated 'All-Stars' Joey Graceffa & Meghan Camarena Say That Flight Was 'Kind Of Ridiculous'? [VIDEO] ]. EnStars . March 11, 2014 . enstarz.com . July 24, 2017.
- News: New Form Incubator Unveils Slate of Digital Shorts (Exclusive) . Jarvey . Natalie . October 16, 2014 . . July 24, 2017.
- News: Ron Howard and Brian Grazer's New Form Digital to Fund 14 Short Films From YouTube Creators . Ge . Linda . July 8, 2014 . . July 24, 2017.
- News: Will 'Fake Off' Season 3 Happen? This Mesmerizing Dance Show Needs To Stick Around . LaScala . Marisa . June 24, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Corbin Bleu to Host New Season of truTV's FAKE OFF; Glee's Harry Shum Jr. to Judge . Desk . TV News . March 10, 2015 . Broadway World . July 24, 2017.
- truTV Reveals 10 Awe-Inspiring Performance Teams Set to Compete in season 2 of Fake Off . April 23, 2015 . July 25, 2017 . Turner . Turner.com.
- Web site: YouTuber Meghan Camarena Signs Deal with Maker TV . Ariens . Chris . July 24, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: 'When TV and Digital Merge,' Meghan Camarena and Maker Studios Will Be There . May 13, 2015 . Videoink . July 24, 2017 .
- Web site: YouTuber Meghan Camarena hits 1 million subscribers and celebrates with a remake of her most popular video . Votta . Rae . August 20, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: YouTube Star Strawburry17 Leads Off 'Spider-Man' Murder-Mystery On Instagram . Gutelle . Sam . October 26, 2015 . Tubefilter . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Spider-Man murder mystery launched on Instagram . Placko . Meredith . October 29, 2015 . . July 24, 2017 . July 28, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170728035935/https://www.geek.com/geek-cetera/spider-man-murder-mystery-launched-on-instagram-1638183/ . dead .
- Web site: Meghan Camarena Teaser - Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed. Mediajuice Studios. February 17, 2017. July 28, 2017. YouTube.
- Web site: Disney XD Set to Launch Gamer Programming Block . Lafayette . Jon . June 14, 2017 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Four Disney-Managed YouTube Stars Launch Twitch Channels. Todd. Spangler. January 18, 2018. variety.com. September 9, 2018.
- Web site: RADIANT BLACK #12 . July 16, 2022 . Image Comics . en.
- Web site: 2022-09-08 . Image Comics' Massive-Verse expands as Radiant Pink breaks into her own book . 2022-09-08 . Popverse . en.
- Web site: Myrick . Joe Anthony . 2023-04-19 . HyperForce Rangers Return For All-New Power Rangers Unlimited Tale (Exclusive) . 2023-04-20 . ScreenRant . en.
- Web site: VidCon 2015: Meghan Camarena on YouTube, NASCAR . Schwartz . Alison . July 25, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Vidcon 2016: All the stars scheduled to attend . Sollosi . Mary . June 15, 2016 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Expanding Beyond the Digital World – SXSW 2016 Event Schedule . SXSW Schedule 2016 . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: PlayList Live Orlando to Feature 12,000 Attendees, Additional Industry Panels, Fireworks Show . Weiss . Geoff . April 14, 2016 . Tubefilter . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Meghan Camarena reveals the busy life of being a social media celebrity . Hauler . Lesley . April 27, 2016 . July 24, 2017 . AOL.com.
- Web site: Comic-Con 2015: The Nerdist Conival, BATTLEBORN Laser Tag, Panel Schedules, and More! - Nerdist . Heine . Rachel . June 25, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- D23 Expo Level Up! Panel Showcases The Walt Disney Company's Upcoming Games Line-Up . July 15, 2017 . July 24, 2017 . . Disney . July 28, 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170728185356/http://www.sec.marketwatch.com/story/d23-expo-level-up-panel-showcases-the-walt-disney-companys-upcoming-games-line-up-2017-07-15 . dead .
- 883350234503421953 . Just announced! @Jack_Septic_Eye and @Strawburry17 to host the Level Up! Games Panel at #D23Expo on Saturday, July 15, at 1pm.pic.twitter.com/cdETXHkeny . July 7, 2017 . Disney . D23 (Disney) . disneyd23.
- Web site: Meet Meghan Camarena, CEO, actor, director of Strawburry 17 and a Woman of Influence . January 26, 2016 . . Los Angeles . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Meghan Camarena & Jimmy Wong Sadly End Relationship. youtubernews1. August 13, 2013. wordpress.com. July 28, 2017.
- Web site: just your friendly neighborhood queer. What do we think about this septum piercing? i kinda love it. February 25, 2022.
- Web site: It's a Marvel-ous world . Ledesma . RJ . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Meet some of the amazing lady cosplayers at New York Comic-Con . Lane . Carly . October 12, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Meghan Camarena . Local Wolves . 32 . December 2015 . 36–39 . Los Angeles . . July 24, 2017 . Rachel . Coker .
- Welcome to Varsity . November 14, 2013 . Video Game High School . Video Game High School . July 26, 2013 . 2 . 1 . 29:09 . . YouTube.
- Web site: Amazon.com: The Misfortune of Being Ned: Steve Zaragoza, Meghan Camarena, Kevin Brueck, Robert Jennings, Spencer Grove, Dane Boedigheimer, Aaron Massey, Bobby Jennings, Bob Harper, Derek Gonzalez . www.amazon.com . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Dane Boedigheimer Talks New Annoying Orange Channel Show 'The Misfortune of Being Ned' [INTERVIEW] ]. Van . Alan . October 18, 2013 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: 'Annoying Orange' Creator Launches New Series . Wolfe . Jennifer . October 8, 2013 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Lindsey Stirling Talks Competing on DanceOn's 'Dance Showdown' Season 3, New Album [INTERVIEW] - New Media Rockstars ]. Klima . Jeff . October 30, 2013 . NewMediaRockstars . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: THE VOID - Short Film . Strawburry17 . October 16, 2014 . July 24, 2017 . YouTube.
- Web site: 'The New Adventures of Peter + Wendy' Casts Strawburry17, Jim Beaver . Brouwer . Bree . August 25, 2014 . Tubefilter . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: 'New Adventures of Peter + Wendy' season 2 review. Karen. Rought. June 15, 2015. Hypable. July 27, 2017.
- Web site: How They Made YouTube Red's 'Fight of the Living Dead: Experiment 88' . Longwell . Todd . August 26, 2016 . VideoInk . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: The Story Behind Zombie Series 'Fight of the Living Dead'. April 6, 2015 . Carolyn . Giardina. The Hollywood Reporter . July 27, 2017.
- Web site: Why Disney XD Is Creating ESports Specials Like 'Clash Of Karts' . Gaudiosi . John . November 25, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: What's Trending Checks YouTube Stars Into Marriott With 'Experiences' Series . Graser . Marc . February 6, 2015 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Amazon.com: Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed: Sean Astin, Tom Arnold, Michael Rooker, Penn Jillette, Zelda Williams, Matt Walsh, Alison Haislip, Meghan Camarena, William Shatner, Kevin Smith, Tony Hawk, Jeremy Snead: Amazon Digital Services LLC . Amazon.com . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Cast & Crew - Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed . unlockedtvshow.com (Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed official website) . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: This Week In Trailers: I Am Not Your Negro, The New Man, Detour, Unlocked: The World of Games, Revealed, The Salesman . Stipp . Christopher . November 19, 2016 . . July 24, 2017.
- Web site: Parker Plays - TV Show, episode Guide & Schedule. TWC Central. July 26, 2017.
- Web site: Power Rangers Hyperforce Twitch RPG Coming Soon. denofgeek.com. October 18, 2017. November 11, 2017.
- Web site: 'Power Rangers: Battle For The Grid Shattered Grid Story Mode Trailer Revealed; Update Live Today. comicbook.com. en. April 30, 2019. May 28, 2019.
- Web site: New TTRPG - Kollok 1991 - Kids On Bikes System! Starts soon!. Hyper RPG. February 25, 2019. YouTube. March 11, 2019.
- News: Chatting with the cast and writer of 'The Unleashed' on Twitch (Includes interview). Markos. Papadatos. December 9, 2020. Digital Journal.
- News: The Unleashed Delivers a One of a Kind Superhero RPG on Twitch. Matthew . Aguilar . October 21, 2020 . Comicbook.com.