Ray William Johnson

Ray William Johnson was born in Oklahoma City, OK. He moved to New York in 1999 to enroll in Columbia University, where he studied history and picked up the hobby of recording his own video blogs and publishing them on YouTube. Over the course of the decade to follow, Johnson had turned filmmaking-both for the internet and beyond-into his primary occupational pursuit. By 2009, he had begun writing, producing, and starring in "Equals Three" (YouTube 2009-), a web series in which Johnson would critique and parody popular viral videos. Though self-produced at first, "Equals Three" would eventually be picked up by the media company Maker Studios. Johnson's partnership with the company would result in the animated musical series "Your Favorite Martian" (YouTube 2011-12). In 2012, Johnson left Maker, concluding his involvement with both series. In addition to producing his first scripted program, "Riley Rewind" (Facebook/YouTube 2013-14), Johnson also began attaching to higher profile projects. He took a voice acting role in director Kevin Smith's "Jay & Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie (2013), as well as live acting roles in the popular web series "Epic Rap Battles of History" (YouTube 2010-) and in Gabriel Iglesias' "The Fluffy Movie" (2014). On top of this, Johnson produced the feature films "Manson Family Vacation" (2015), starring Jay Duplass and Tobin Bell, and "Who's Driving Doug" (2016), starring himself alongside RJ Mitte.