Zach King

Zachary Michael King is an American internet personality and filmmaker known for creating short videos featuring visual effects that appear as magic. He began posting content on YouTube in 2008 and gained widespread recognition on Vine in 2013 for his six-second "magic vines." King later expanded his presence to TikTok, where he has amassed tens of millions of followers for his digitally edited videos, which he describes as "digital sleight of hand."

Early life and education

King was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He is of half-Chinese descent from his paternal side, one-quarter Austrian and one-quarter Nicaraguan descent from his maternal side. King's mother homeschooled him and his three sisters, including one adopted sister, while his father worked in their home office. King made his first film at age seven using a home video camera. When he was fourteen, he purchased video equipment including a Mac computer, cameras, and a tripod and started making and editing videos.
He was a film and music major with a minor in worship at Biola University and graduated in December 2012.

Career

Early work and YouTube

King started his website, FinalCutKing.com, in 2008 to offer training and tips about using the editing software Final Cut Pro, as he was unable to find tutorials for the software on the internet. At the same time, he started using his YouTube channel to give tutorials for visual effects using the software. After gaining an audience for his website, he began selling training seminars and used the money to help pay his college tuition. He participated as a contestant on an episode of Viral Video Showdown that aired on Syfy in 2012.
In 2011, he posted a video titled Jedi Kittens on YouTube that he produced with a college friend under the name FinalCutKing. The video showed two kittens fighting with lightsabers. The video gained over a million views in three days and went on to have over 25 million views as of March 2025. A sequel of the video titled Jedi Kittens Strike Back gained over 10 million views as of 2014. A third video in the series, Jedi Kittens – The Force Awakens, was posted in 2013 and has gained over 28 million views.
He was named by YouTube as one of the 25 most promising young film-makers in America in May 2013. As part of its Next Up Creators contest, YouTube awarded King $35,000 as well as a trip to New York City for a four-day YouTube Creator Camp. His submission to the contest was titled Contest Entry Gone Wrong. As of May 2025, he has 42 million subscribers and 775 videos with 21.4 billion views.
King posted a short video as part of YouTube Shorts which gained over 1.2 billion views.

Vine

King made his Vine account on September 9, 2013, and decided to create one Vine daily for thirty days straight. His videos on the platform quickly became popular. By 2014, he was making videos on Vine full-time and working out of his garage.
King has been featured in multiple media outlets for his Vines. He appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on January 29, 2014, and made several Vines with the crew of the show. Chez Pazienza wrote about King that "this guy's stuff is pure magic " Laura Vitto praised King's work in Mashable, stating, "Vine star and filmmaker Zach King may not perform magic in the traditional sense, but his expertly-edited six-second videos could put David Blaine to shame." Writing for Complex magazine, J. Duaine Hahn wrote, "While people have hit Vine stardom for skits, or splicing together commentary with popular YouTube videos, King has gone the extra mile to use his six seconds to create magic, or the closest thing you can get to it with on a smartphone."

TikTok

King posted his first video to short-form video platform TikTok on February 28, 2016. As of November 2024, he has amassed a following of over 82.3 million followers, making him the third most followed user on the site. He has a 25-person staff to help him write and produce videos. His videos can take up to 2 weeks to make, with a goal to produce two per week.
On December 9, 2019, King uploaded a video called "Zach Kings Magic Broomstick", which received an estimated 2 billion views and was the most viewed videos on the platform that day. On December 1, 2022, Guinness World Records officially recognized it as the most viewed video on TikTok at 2.2 billion views.

Writing career

Zach King has been a published author since 2016. King has two different children's book series: three books on the game Minecraft and a trilogy on his own life in a fantasy style.
King's first book, My Minecraft Escapades, was published on January 21, 2016.
His second children's novel was called Minecraft Mathematicians and it was published on March 19, 2016.
His third book on Minecraft was published on April 10, 2016, and is called A Minecraft Wish Granted.
King then shifted his focus to writing about his own life. King released three books under his "Magic Life" trilogy. It is a fantasy fiction series about his own life and events during his life that shaped the way he saw magic. Each of the three books have a downloadable app for interacting with each book.
King's first children's book in the Magic Life Series was published on September 16, 2017, and was titled "Zach King: My Magical Life". The second book published was "Zach King: The Magical Mix-Up" on May 1, 2018. King wraps the trilogy with the book "Zach King: Mirror Magic".

Personal life

When King was seven, his family converted to Christianity, which he states is one of the "greatest things" that has happened in his life. He considers himself as a devout Christian, attempting to read parts of the Bible when he wakes up every morning. He is also vocal about his faith, even incorporating it into his videos. King attended Biola University, a non-denominational Christian university, and had led youth groups at various Christian camps.
King proposed to his girlfriend, Rachel Holm, while pretending to create a video advertisement for one of her brands. They got married in 2014. In 2016, they competed together on The Amazing Race 28 and placed 6th. As of 2017, they lived in Rossmoor, an unincorporated community in Orange County, California. Both King and his wife have adopted siblings, which would later inspire her to work as a case manager for adoption and foster-care. The couple have fostered a few children, as well as having both an adopted son, Mason, and a biological son, Liam. In 2022, it was announced that the couple was expecting another baby, a girl named Emerson, who was born in February 2023 and later announced on YouTube. In December 2024, it was announced that the couple was expecting another baby, a boy named Carson, who was born in June 2025.

Controversies and legal issues

A former producer for King named Elisabeth Logan filed a lawsuit against King and his studio King Studio LLC in 2021 on counts of "wrongful termination, sexual harassment, gender discrimination, retaliation, wage discrimination, failure to prevent harassment discrimination or retaliation, and various state Labor Code violations." During the trial, the prosecution stated "Zach King belittled, verbally attacked and yelled at Ms. Logan for the slightest perceived misstep, while turning a blind eye to male co-workers' grave errors."
King has yet to release a public statement about the lawsuit.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2021	Nickelodeon's Unfiltered	Himself	Episode: "This DJ is Bananas!"
2021	Dave	Himself	Episode: "Somebody Date me"

Awards and honors

2009 – First place in student film festival for HP advertisement
2009 – Critic's Choice Award at Bridgestone Tires's Safety Scholars Teen Driver Video Contest
2010 – First place London Film Festival: Heartbrand Ad
2010 – Bridgestone Safety Scholar Winner
2012 – Vidcon Golden Poop Award
2013 – YouTube's NextUp Creators Contest
2016 – Shorty Award for Best Vine Artist
2023 – Streamy Award for Visual and Special Effects