Alejandro Hernández (director)
Encyclopedia
Alejandro Hernández is a Venezuelan filmmaker, photographer, singer-songwriter
, film score
composer
and comedian
.
He achieved viral success on YouTube
thanks to The Alejandro Hernández Show, an online comedy show that narrates the everyday life of the Venezuelan citizen, specifically aimed at the Facebook
generation. Most of the content is in Spanish
, although some sketches
are recorded in the English
language. Since 2009, his videos have reached a total of 5 million views.
On January 2011, Hernández signed a one-year contract with PlanetaUrbe Networks. Since then, all of his episodes have been uploaded to PlanetaUrbe's website instead of YouTube.
Hernández is currently at number 14 on the most influential Twitter users in Venezuela and is the most followed user in the state of Zulia
. He won the Celebrity award at the 2011 Twitter Awards held by El Nacional
.
who criticizes society
and stereotypes. After experimenting, he created his YouTube channel.
Hernández is the first Venezuelan YouTuber to succeed, given that the majority of successful YouTube comedians come from the United States
. His first episode, "Cita de salir + el @", which talks about "favorite quotations" on Facebook profiles and the use of the At sign
, came to him while he was on Facebook and noticed how they were used the wrong way. Hernández said that the episodic content started with "a few short videos about Facebook and grammatical mistakes", but it later became a more elaborated program. The show's appeal is in the way he mixes local customs with pop culture and technology, in which Hernández said "I believe it’s because people identify with the things I say" and that "they are indeed attracted by the program because I’ve always enjoyed giving my show a touch of Hollywood", which is unusual in Venezuelan productions. His 18th episode, "Voz orgasmicangelical, profesores necios y la chama que no se calla la jeta", has been his most successful to date, reaching more than 800,000 views without being part of the YouTube Partner program, which isn't available in Venezuela.
genre was released on December 28, 2010 along with episode 20. It showed Hernández's music producing and singing abilities. The 1-minute song became a local hit, reaching more than 20,000 mp3
downloads and positioning both "Alejandro Hernández" and "Tamos Ready" at Twitter's worldwide trending topics.
Hernández generally composes mainstream music, such as "Automatic", a dance/pop
song that talks about routine
and living life on autopilot. He also composes orchestral film scores which are usually made for specific sketches of his show.
, harshly criticized Hernández, saying that he looked "apparently innocent" and labeled him “dangerous” and a bad influence to the Venezuelan youth. However, he pointed out his "perfect English" and "good editing". He even drew comparisons with another Venezuelan comedian, Luis Chataing, which Silva qualified as "stupid".
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
, film score
Film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film, forming part of the film's soundtrack, which also usually includes dialogue and sound effects...
composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
.
He achieved viral success on YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
thanks to The Alejandro Hernández Show, an online comedy show that narrates the everyday life of the Venezuelan citizen, specifically aimed at the Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
generation. Most of the content is in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, although some sketches
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
are recorded in the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
language. Since 2009, his videos have reached a total of 5 million views.
On January 2011, Hernández signed a one-year contract with PlanetaUrbe Networks. Since then, all of his episodes have been uploaded to PlanetaUrbe's website instead of YouTube.
Hernández is currently at number 14 on the most influential Twitter users in Venezuela and is the most followed user in the state of Zulia
Zulia
Zulia State is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. The state capital is Maracaibo. In June 30, 2010, it had an estimated population of 3,821,068, giving it the largest population among Venezuela's states. It is located in the northwestern part of the country...
. He won the Celebrity award at the 2011 Twitter Awards held by El Nacional
El Nacional
El Nacional is a Venezuelan publishing company under the name C.A. Editorial El Nacional, most widely known for its El Nacional newspaper. It, along with Últimas Noticias and El Universal, are the most widely read and circulated daily national newspapers in the country, and it has an average of...
.
Filmmaking and comedy
Before creating the YouTube channel, Hernández made several short films in both English and Spanish, such as "Conditioned", a comedy/drama about a nerdNerd
Nerd is a derogatory slang term for an intelligent but socially awkward and obsessive person who spends time on unpopular or obscure pursuits, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Nerds are considered to be awkward, shy, and unattractive...
who criticizes society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and stereotypes. After experimenting, he created his YouTube channel.
Hernández is the first Venezuelan YouTuber to succeed, given that the majority of successful YouTube comedians come from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. His first episode, "Cita de salir + el @", which talks about "favorite quotations" on Facebook profiles and the use of the At sign
At sign
The at sign , also called the ampersat, apetail, arroba, atmark, at symbol, commercial at or monkey tail, is formally an abbreviation of the accounting and commercial invoice term "at the rate of"...
, came to him while he was on Facebook and noticed how they were used the wrong way. Hernández said that the episodic content started with "a few short videos about Facebook and grammatical mistakes", but it later became a more elaborated program. The show's appeal is in the way he mixes local customs with pop culture and technology, in which Hernández said "I believe it’s because people identify with the things I say" and that "they are indeed attracted by the program because I’ve always enjoyed giving my show a touch of Hollywood", which is unusual in Venezuelan productions. His 18th episode, "Voz orgasmicangelical, profesores necios y la chama que no se calla la jeta", has been his most successful to date, reaching more than 800,000 views without being part of the YouTube Partner program, which isn't available in Venezuela.
Music and composing
"Tamos Ready", a parody song mocking the ReggaetonReggaeton
Reggaeton is a form of Puerto Rican and Latin American urban and Caribbean music. After its mainstream exposure in 2004, it spread to North American, European and Asian audiences. Reggaeton originated in Puerto Rico but is also has roots from Reggae en Español from Panama and Puerto Rico and...
genre was released on December 28, 2010 along with episode 20. It showed Hernández's music producing and singing abilities. The 1-minute song became a local hit, reaching more than 20,000 mp3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
downloads and positioning both "Alejandro Hernández" and "Tamos Ready" at Twitter's worldwide trending topics.
Hernández generally composes mainstream music, such as "Automatic", a dance/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
song that talks about routine
Routine
Routine may refer to:*Subroutine in computer science*Choreographed routine, orchestrated dance involving several performers*Comedy routine, comedic act or part of an act*Visual routine, visual cognitive means of extracting information from a scene...
and living life on autopilot. He also composes orchestral film scores which are usually made for specific sketches of his show.
Criticism
Despite the show's success, it has been criticized by the Venezuelan government. Mario Silva, host of La Hojilla, an opinion program that airs on the government channel Venezolana de TelevisiónVenezolana de Televisión
Corporación Venezolana de Televisión or VTV is a state-owned television network based in Caracas, Venezuela, which can be seen throughout the country on channel eight...
, harshly criticized Hernández, saying that he looked "apparently innocent" and labeled him “dangerous” and a bad influence to the Venezuelan youth. However, he pointed out his "perfect English" and "good editing". He even drew comparisons with another Venezuelan comedian, Luis Chataing, which Silva qualified as "stupid".