Ray William Johnson is an American internet celebrity best known for his eponymous YouTube channel and his web series on that channel, Equals Three. In 2013, the channel surpassed 10 million subscribers and had over 2 billion views, making it one of the most watched and subscribed to channels at the time.[1][2][3] Johnson left the series in March 2014 but continued to produce it and other web series like Booze Lightyear, Comedians On, and Top 6, the first two of which were later cancelled.[4][5][6]
Toward the end of his tenure at Equals Three, Johnson began branching out into other mediums. His first scripted web series, Riley Rewind, premiered on Facebook in 2013.[7] He created a television concept that was purchased by FX the same year.[8] He made his live-action acting debut in the indie road filmWho's Driving Doug alongside former Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte, who portrayed Walter White Jr.[9] In 2015 his production company, Mom & Pop Empire, was reported to be co-producing a documentary with Supergravity Pictures about monopolies in the cable television industry.[10]
Early life and education
Johnson was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and attended Norman North High School, where he graduated in 1999. He later attended the Columbia University School of General Studies, where he studied history, but did not graduate.[1] His goal was to later earn a Juris Doctor degree after completing his undergraduate studies. He began posting videos on YouTube during college. These videos were video blogs that Johnson published on a now-deleted channel. These early videos garnered a following of around thirty people.[2]
Career
Equals Three
Johnson began posting videos to his "Ray William Johnson" channel in April 2009. In 2011, the channel became YouTube's first to reach five million subscribers.[2] The channel had also attained nearly two billion total views.[1] Originally, Johnson produced videos out of his New York City apartment, but, in 2011, he signed a deal with Maker Studios to produce videos on set in Culver City, California. While at Maker Studios, Johnson produced a Spanish-language version of the series, Igual a Tres, and also produced a series of comedic animated music videos on a side channel called "Your Favorite Martian."[2][11]
In October 2012, Johnson announced that he would be leaving Maker Studios, contending that they had been pressuring him to sign a new contract that limited his access to his AdSense account and would reportedly take 40% of his earnings from the series. The contract also would have required Johnson to give up 50% of his intellectual property rights to the show and his other animated web project, Your Favorite Martian.[12][13] In November 2012, Johnson founded his own production studio, Equals Three Studios (then known as Runaway Planet), and continued producing Equals Three. Your Favorite Martian series was ended that same month.[12]
In December 2013, Johnson announced that he would be ending Equals Three in the near future to focus on other projects.[14] His last show as host (titled "THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING") was published on March 12, 2014, and was around 14 minutes long.[15] The channel had over 10 million subscribers and 2.6 billion total views at the time of Johnson's departure.[16] The show returned in July 2014 with Robby Motz as host.[17][18] Motz would depart in July 2015, at which point Kaja Martin, one of Johnson's frequent collaborators, took over as host,[19] but Martin was subsequently replaced by Carlos Santos in December 2015.
In 2015, Johnson sued Jukin Media for requesting the removal of 40 Equals Three videos which sampled their content. The case was later settled.[20]
In December 2013, Johnson debuted his first scripted series, Riley Rewind, which was originally released on Facebook before migrating to YouTube. The series revolved around a teenager with a special time-shifting power. It was released in 5 parts and cumulatively totaled about 50 minutes.[7][24] In 2015, Johnson reported the series had received 10 million views on Facebook.[25]
Earlier in 2013, Johnson was in talks with FX Networks about a scripted series based on his life. The network gave Johnson a script commitment. The script was to be written by Mike Gagerman and Andrew Waller.[26]
Other "Ray William Johnson" content
Since his departure from Equals Three, Johnson has continued producing comedic series for his main "Ray William Johnson" channel. These series included Booze Lightyear, Top 6, and Comedians On. Booze Lightyear was a scripted sketch comedy web series that featured a variety of different actors often in comedic situations. Johnson appeared on the series' first episode in February 2015.[4]Top 6 is "list show" that is written and hosted by Kelly Landry and discusses 6 items about a given topic each episode. Top 6 also premiered in February 2015.[5]Comedians On premiered in July 2015 and featured a collection of different comedians humorously discussing a chosen topic with Carlos Santos as host. "Comedians On" along with "Booze Lightyear" were eventually cancelled at roughly the same time that Carlos Santos became host of "Equals Three". All of these shows (including Equals Three itself) are produced by Equals Three Studios. Johnson occasionally appears in these shows and in "update vlogs" on the channel.[6][17]
Johnson is also the co-creator (with former Equals Three host, Kaja Martin) of the film production company, Mom & Pop Empire. They are currently[when?] working on a documentary project seeking to expose cable monopolies. Johnson and Martin are co-producers along with Max Benator and Marc Hustvedt's Supergravity Pictures. Johnson is expected to narrate the film. Mom & Pop Empire had previously co-produced a film called Manson Family Vacation with Mark and Jay Duplass. The film premiered at South by Southwest in 2015 and its distribution rights were purchased by Netflix soon after. Johnson and Martin are also working on a separate film starring Johnson and a long-form movie version of their web series Booze Lightyear as part of Mom & Pop Empire.[10][32][33]
In the musical sphere, Johnson released an album titled Fat Damon in 2018, which featured three tracks: "Conspiracy Theory Guy (ft. Wax)", "My Life Is Dope," and "Fred Astaire".[34] Additionally, he formed a virtual band named The Upside Downs, although the timeline of their releases is not specified.[35]
Recent work
In 2020, Johnson returned to YouTube after a yearlong hiatus with a new series called Svperhvman.[36] He has since transitioned to creating YouTube Shorts and short-form comedic sketches on Facebook.[37][36] He also revived his side project "Your Favorite Martian" releasing a new video called "Oprhan Tears Part 2", the first in over ten years.[38]
Filmography
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2009–2014
Equals Three
Host as himself (until 2014)
Also creator and executive producer, formerly writer
Variety magazine called Johnson's scripted web series, Riley Rewind, the 7th best web series of 2013.[24] Johnson was also listed among The Hollywood Reporter's "Comedy Class of 2013."[39] French YouTubers Antoine Daniel and Mathieu Sommet have cited Johnson's Equal 3 as their inspiration, respectively for What The Cut !? and Salut les Geeks !.
