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Parker Coppins gives the low-down on new Disney XD series, Parker Plays

By Paul Zuniga

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Photo Credit: Birdie Thompson. Grooming: Jasmine Romero, represented by Michelle Q Beauty.

In case you hadn’t heard, well-known YouTube personality, Parker Coppins, recently transitioned from shooting YouTube videos to working on a Disney XD series, Parker Plays. On this new show, Coppins does what he’s best known for, which is playing video games and much more.

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For anyone who’s unfamiliar with Parker Coppins, he’s become a YouTube sensation known for his unique commentary on relevant video games. Coppins has played / reviewed various games, mostly computer based games, all of which have intrigued quite a substantial following. But Coppins isn’t just popular for his commentary, he also integrates unique personalities he creates on the fly, which seem to work for him- evident by the masses of people following the young Coppins. The characters are quite hilarious when Coppins utilizes them in skits, some of them even deserve to be on a TV show—and they have become part of Parker Plays as well.

As for Parker Plays, it’s a fairly new television show that airs on one of Disney’s main channels, Disney XD. The show chronicles Coppins’ experiences as he plays various games and essentially reviews them for the audience. He doesn’t necessarily review anything, but his critique is detailed enough to represent one. That said, there’s more to what Coppins does than simply reviewing video games. Coppins provided a bit of insight into the making of Parker Plays, as well as how he wound up switching from YouTube to television.

"“It’s difficult as an independent online creator because you don’t have help from anyone. You are your own boss, which sounds great, but you also have no one to rely on. Editing alone takes up 10 hours of my day, so the switch to TV was an obvious one,” Coppins admitted. “Making higher quality content, while focusing my time on the things I really love? Sounds great to me. I only wish everyone who wanted to see it was able to. As the world switches to online outlets, it’s almost strange to not be able to view something online for free.”"

As Coppins revealed, the most difficult part of his transition from YouTube to television. been the restraints of filming on a schedule.

"“I no longer was able to control my time. As more people were brought onto the process, scheduled time was very important,” noted Coppins. “Sometimes, as I’m sure most people understand, they don’t really feel like being energetic. It’s like having to host a party, every single day for 10 hours a day, whether you feel like it or not. It’s still very fun, but absolutely exhausting.”"

From what we can tell, Coppins really had a lot put on his plate in taking on a television show of his own. He points out a lot more time and effort was required of him, in comparison to his YouTube channel, where he had control over his time. Now, he’s on a set schedule which is asking a lot. The good news, is that Parker Plays has turned out to be phenomenal, and the final product is evidence of the hard work Coppins and the production staff have put into the show.

Along with answering questions on what went into the making of Parker Plays, Coppins also revealed how he was approached to create a Disney based series.

"“Disney XD was looking to create a block during the summer that focused on gaming related content. Maker, a digital platform that partners with online content creators, was bought by Disney a year before. My name, as a few others, were chosen to make pilots for this block,” Coppins revealed. “Woody Tondorf and I sat down in a coffee shop one day, came up with the pilots together. Digomind, a production company controlled by Kevin Williams, created YouTube style pilots and we sent that over to Disney. It was a long process, but it’s when I realized that TV had something to offer that YouTube couldn’t. Large professional collaboration.”"

After examining Coppins comments, it’s clear that he had to work hard for his pitch to be accepted and turned into a television show. He also seems to have learned the importance of utilizing television as a forum to deliver his content. The reason for that, being the incentive of professional collaboration that comes along with working in television, over the internet. While the internet is more easily accessible, networking amongst other professionals in the television industry will provide Coppins with more associates to collaborate with on future projects. With that known, there’s still a lot more ahead for Coppins on Parker Plays before he moves on to another television show / project.

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While answering questions about Parker Plays , Coppins elaborated on various aspects relating to the first episode of the show, namely his fear of horror based games. Coppins is known for playing games of every genre but he reacts quite strongly to horror games.

"“I hate scary games,” Coppins shared. “Sometimes I like to play it up for the cameras, but any jump scares are genuine. I think I may have seen four scary movies in my life. I’m a total baby. It’s definitely a good way to wake up in the morning, I’ll tell you that much.”"

It’s clear that Coppins doesn’t like horror games, but it’s not necessarily about the horror factor. Coppins demonstrated that he has an in-depth knowledge of the genre when he was asked, whether or not he likes the genre overall.

"“The genre is quite intriguing. I like the manipulation of the sensation of fear, and how that plays differently from other games genres,” said Coppins. “Most of the horror games that I have played have the same rhythm. Five different scary things, each scary thing has a different mechanic you need to avoid don’t lose in five minutes. I’d rather play a terrible game made in a dude’s basement in 48 hours, but maybe that’s just me!”"

Coppins also revealed who picks the rest of the games he plays / reviews on Parker Plays.

"“For the pilots, I came up with the games. Although, it was fun to film the show itself because I had never played most of the games,” Coppins revealed. “It was refreshing to experience those games on camera for the first time. Plus, they liked to throw in a scary game every now and then without telling me.”"

While Parker notes how he didn’t decide every game that he played, he was able to veto them most of the time, unless an editor could make something out of the footage Coppins shot playing a particular game.

"“If I don’t feel a game is easy to commentate on, I can usually veto them,” Coppins shared. “Somehow, even if I can’t say a single funny thing, the editors find something out of it. They are quite the bunch.”"

As for future games, Coppins says he’s open to fan suggestions as well. The production team may be currently selecting the games, but Coppins isn’t objecting to fans suggesting games for him to play. He emphasizes how important his fans’ opinions are to him when selecting the games he plays. Coppins even approves of fan suggestions for future games to play.

"“The fans are the most important part of my job, they are the reason I can eat! If they find this game entertaining, then it’s my job to play it! Plus, I usually trust their judgement,” Coppins noted."

Along with talking about game selection, Coppins also provided a bit of insight into the unique character personalities he brings into his commentary on the games he plays.

"“Well, the characters just kind of happen. I loved doing impressions as a child and I would sometimes create my own characters. I guess when you’re the weird kid that does voices, Los Angeles is where you belong,” Coppins admitted before delving into the creation of one of his recurring personas, Jame, the laid back snowboarder. ” I started with the Californian surfer voice and from there, Jame was born. He’s the Californian, human madlibs. A friend of mine’s group likes to play a game where we have a conversation, but in complete nonsense. It’s much harder than it sounds. Example: ‘If you were to ask me where my store went, chances are the phoenix had him by the neck folds.'”"

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Comments aside, Parker Coppins is only getting started with Parker Plays. The show has aired 16 episodes so far and doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. There’s no word on whether or not a second season will happen, but it seems like a distinct possibility at the moment. Coppins is enthusiastic about the show and it appears to have become a big hit. That said, we’ll have to wait and see what happens with Parker Plays.

Parker Plays airs on Disney XD. You can also watch the show online at DisneyXD.com

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