TopBuzz Creator Spotlight: Danny Casale’s Animations Aim To Make Viewers Laugh, Cry, Or Say, ‘Well, That Was Dumb’

By 12/18/2018
TopBuzz Creator Spotlight: Danny Casale’s Animations Aim To Make Viewers Laugh, Cry, Or Say, ‘Well, That Was Dumb’

Welcome to TopBuzz Creator Spotlight, where we’ll be profiling a handful of notable creators who are expanding their distribution prospects onto TopBuzz — a two-year-old content aggregation app owned by Chinese mobile giant Bytedance. Even in a crowded platform landscape, TopBuzz offers discovery and revenue prospects that these creators describe as irrefutably additive. 


As crudely scribbled as they are poignantly thought-provoking, Danny Casale has garnered a sizable online audience for his short-form animations, to the tune of 617,000 YouTube subscribers and 1 million Instagram followers.

The Brooklyn-based 23-year-old, who has been a doodler since childhood, struck the viral jackpot in 2017 with a video titled Snakes Have Legs — a quirky commentary about the rise misinformation on the internet. After that, Casale says, he worked around the clock to build a lasting presence — with one of his first recurring series dubbed the Shape Guys, about two down-on-their-luck shapes — a triangle and a rectangle — out to make a quick buck.

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Being that his videos tend to skew short-form, the ad revenue opportunities on YouTube and Facebook tend slightly diminished, Casale says. And so he has opted to spread his wings onto other platforms in recent months, including Bytedance‘s TopBuzz. We sat down with Casale — who goes by the online moniker ‘Coolman Coffeedan‘ to discuss his experiences on TopBuzz thus far, his creative process, and the emotional payoff that he hopes fans derive from his “weird” work.

Tubefilter: Where’d you come up with the nickname ‘Coolman Coffeedan’?

Danny Casale: On Halloween back in 2012, I figured out how to use Photoshop. I edited a picture of myself with a skeleton face, made it my Twitter profile picture, and changed my display name to ‘Cool Man Skeleton Dan’. At the time, I thought it would be funny to change my profile picture every week with a new theme, and change my display name accordingly. The following week, I changed my profile picture to myself drinking a cup of coffee, and changed my name to ‘Cool Man Coffee Dan’.

A few weeks passed without me ever changing my name or picture again — probably out of a total sudden lack of interest in my new idea. But Cool Man Coffee Dan stuck once people in high school started jokingly calling me that. I noticed the catchiness, and changed all of my other social handles accordingly. Plus, coffee is really, really good. So, ‘Coolman Coffeedan‘ became the official nickname.

TF: How did you develop a passion for animation, and why did you decide to pursue a career as a digital creator?

DC: I doodled my whole life. I didn’t really figure out how to animate and make these doodles move until a few years ago when I combined my drawing know-how with my experience in filmmaking. I just carried over the knowledge of composing a shot, comedic timing, telling a story, and editing into the medium of illustration.

I was always pushing online content since I discovered YouTube in 2006, and had garnered a little bit of an audience early on. But the biggest wave came once I published one of my first super-simple animations. It went insanely viral — something that I’d always strived for but never experienced. Once that happened, I strapped in and was ready to work every second of every day to see how big I could make this thing. I always wanted to be a digital creator full-time, and that’s finally a reality.

TF: What was your breakthrough moment?

DC: The video that went viral is titled Snakes Have Legs — a political cartoon of sorts.

And although that’s definitely what opened up the doors, I think I’m most proud of my first episode of Shape Guys. It’s pretty much the first time I combined drawing and video editing, which resulted in a super-rough animatic [a filmed storyboard] following a triangle and a rectangle — two down-on-their-luck shapes out to make a quick dollar. I didn’t know I was capable of telling a solid comedic story through drawing, and once I was proved to myself that it was totally do-able, I was able to move forward with new creative confidence.

TF: Describe your progression of success on all of the platforms where you’re currently active.

DC: I grew my Instagram page from 2,000 followers to more than 1 million in 16 months — and people are quick to assume that it was all an “overnight success.” During that same time frame, I grew my Facebook page to 1.2 million followers and by YouTube channel to 600,000 subscribers.

But really, it all goes back to when I uploaded my first YouTube video in fifth grade. Over the course of about a decade, I think I was always learning the do’s and don’ts of posting online content through trial and error. Crazy stuff.

TF: What kinds of things inspire your work? How would you describe your content to someone who’s unfamiliar with it?

DC: Growing up on cartoons, I just always found so much comfort and entertainment in them. Even in my teen years, I got into watching Regular Show and Adventure Time. To this day, those shows remain an odd source of zen for me. Something about being able to relate to non-human characters, and having a series of lines and colors tug at your heartstrings was always hugely inspiring.

For anyone unfamiliar with my stuff, I’m a super strange dude. My videos consist of crudely-drawn, brightly-colored characters that will either make you laugh, cry, or get you thinking about something that you probably don’t think about often enough. Or they’ll just have you say, “Well, that was dumb.”

TF: Do you work with any collaborators?

DC: On longer-form episodes, like my Shape Guys series, I work closely with my creative partner Andrew Shuta. We both live in Brooklyn, and he’s as passionate about this vision as I am, which is tough thing to find in a partner. It’s always good to have someone you trust to bounce ideas off of and to help you tackle ambitious projects.

Plus, I’ve learned that I’m rather eccentric and unorganized with my bigger ideas. Andrew is the one to write everything down on paper, create a schedule, pop out a spreadsheet, and keep me from burning out or getting totally disorganized. I think collaborating with other enthusiastic people is so important in the creative journey. It creates contagious energy.

TF: As a digital creator, what are your biggest revenue sources?

DC: Biggest revenue is definitely coming from brand deals. YouTube brings in a little bit of money to pay some of my rent, but since my content is mostly short-form, there’s a cap on how much AdSense can be generated. I do hope to venture into longer-form content with the right ideas, and plan to release some merch in the future, like hoodies and T-Shirts, which is totally exciting. I’m always trying to push the envelope with new ideas, or else I get bored.

TF: How did you link up with TopBuzz, and why did you feel like your work was a good fit?

DC: I was contacted by TopBuzz because they thought my content would work well for the platform. I think my short-form animations fit well with TopBuzz’s simple, fluid layout. Also, my work gives viewers a nice break from the ‘normal’ content on the platform, and a nice little glimpse into my weird world.

TF: What are the benefits of distributing your work on TopBuzz?

DC: It’s been great learning a new platform and seeing how my content performs. When you drop your videos in a new venue with more eyeballs, you get to see what people truly think. Plus, being  apart of the ‘first wave’ of a relatively new platform is a really cool feeling. When my video gets uploaded to my TopBuzz profile, it automatically finds views — even though my profile on there isn’t as big as my other pages. It’s the quality of the content that gets it views — not necessarily your following.

Plus, there’s less rules when it comes to generating revenue on your videos than there are other platforms. I can’t make any money on Facebook because all my videos are under 3 minutes — but on TopBuzz even my shortest videos generate a little bit of revenue, which is a great feeling.


This Creator Spotlight is brought to you by TopBuzz. TopBuzz is a distribution platform that uses powerful AI and algorithms to help creators and publishers discover new audiences for their content. If you’re interested in monetizing your content join TopBuzz for free. Take the AI-powered app for a spin and see how your customized feed improves with every touch. Download TopBuzz for iOS or Android.

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