How Alan Chikin Chow became the most-viewed YouTube Shorts creator: from voice-acting for One Piece and quitting his day job to create TikTok videos, to being featured on Forbes’ 30 under 30
- The multihyphenate creator, actor, writer and producer, who’s billed as the world’s most-watched YouTube Shorts creator, grew up in Texas and started creating videos to make his parents laugh
- Chow initially landed minor acting roles, including in Grey’s Anatomy – today, he has 250 million viewers worldwide and brands like Netflix, Max and Coachella are keen to work with him
Upon visiting Alan Chikin Chow’s YouTube channel, you are greeted by a large rectangular banner displaying the channel’s name floating amid bubblegum pink clouds.
Navigating to the Shorts page and clicking on the most recent video, you’ll see a skit depicting one female vampire attacking another after discovering she has attacked her crush. It may be hard to believe, but this channel holds the record for the most-viewed YouTube Shorts of all time.
So, who is the creator behind these ultra-successful skits?
What is Alan Chikin Chow’s background?
Chow gets into his background on his channel. Born on November 15, 1996, to Ivan and Allie Chow, he’s of Cantonese descent, with his middle name “Chikin” meaning strong-willed in the language. Growing up in Dallas, Texas, with his brother Alvan, Chow’s early passion for creating videos to make his mother laugh laid the foundation for his future success, per Forbes.
This led him to study screenwriting and business administration at the University of Southern California, per Variety. As a student, he voice-acted in the English dubbed versions of various Japanese anime series, including the popular One Piece, where he voiced Orenami.
He had a short acting career
Chow eventually landed minor acting roles in the teen drama series 13 Reasons Why and medical drama series Grey’s Anatomy.