Shia LaBeouf Performance art How is Shia relevant to performance art? In early 2014, LaBeouf began collaborating with British artist and author of The Metamodernist Manifesto, Luke Turner, and Finnish artist Nastja Sade Ronkko, Why did he colaborate with them? embarking on a series of actions described by Dazed as "a multi-platform meditation on celebrity and vulnerability". Was this colaboration successful? Since then, LaBeouf, Ronkko & Turner have engaged in numerous high-profile performance art projects, Are there any other interesting aspects about this article? he occupied a Los Angeles gallery for six days wearing the paper bag and silently crying in front of visitors,
How did the members of the gallery react to this?
How did the members of the Los Angeles gallery to Shia LaBeouf's 6-day occupation wearing a paper bag and crying?
In early 2014, LaBeouf began collaborating with British artist and author of The Metamodernist Manifesto, Luke Turner, and Finnish artist Nastja Sade Ronkko, embarking on a series of actions described by Dazed as "a multi-platform meditation on celebrity and vulnerability". Since then, LaBeouf, Ronkko & Turner have engaged in numerous high-profile performance art projects, including #IAMSORRY (2014), #ALLMYMOVIES (2015), #TOUCHMYSOUL (2015), #TAKEMEANYWHERE (2016), and HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US (2017-ongoing).  On February 9, 2014, the artists caused controversy at the Berlin Film Festival when LaBeouf arrived at the red carpet wearing a brown paper bag over his head with the words "I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE" written on it. In a conversation conducted as part of the trio's #INTERVIEW piece in November 2014, LaBeouf said that he was "heartbroken" and "genuinely remorseful and full of shame and guilt" at the start of their subsequent #IAMSORRY performance, in which he occupied a Los Angeles gallery for six days wearing the paper bag and silently crying in front of visitors, but that "in the end I felt cared for however it came--it was beautiful, it blew me away." He revealed, however, that one woman had proceeded to sexually assault him during the February performance, while Ronkko and Turner later clarified that they had prevented the assault by intervening as soon as they were aware of the incident starting to occur.  In 2015, LaBeouf appeared in #INTRODUCTIONS, a half-hour video made by LaBeouf, Ronkko & Turner in collaboration with Central Saint Martins Fine Art students, comprising a series of short monologues performed by LaBeouf in front of a green screen. One segment in the form of an exaggerated motivational speech, dubbed "Just Do It" after the Nike slogan, became an Internet meme after going viral within days of being released, spawning numerous remixes and parodies, and becoming the most searched for GIF of 2015 according to Google. CANNOTANSWER
I felt cared for however it came--it was beautiful, it blew me away."
Shia LaBeouf (; born June 11, 1986) is an American actor, performance artist, and filmmaker. He played Louis Stevens in the Disney Channel series Even Stevens, a role for which he received a Young Artist Award nomination in 2001 and won a Daytime Emmy Award in 2003. He made his film debut in The Christmas Path (1998). In 2004, he made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate and later directed a short film titled Maniac (2011), starring American rappers Cage and Kid Cudi.

In 2007, LaBeouf starred in the commercially successful films Disturbia and Surf's Up. The same year he was cast in Michael Bay's science fiction film Transformers as Sam Witwicky, the main protagonist of the series. Transformers was a box office success and one of the highest-grossing films of 2007. LaBeouf later appeared in its sequels Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009) and Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2011), both also box office successes. In 2008, he played Henry "Mutt Williams" Jones III in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

His other credits include the films Holes (2003), Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), Lawless (2012), The Company You Keep (2012), Nymphomaniac (2013), Fury (2014), American Honey (2016), Borg vs McEnroe (2017), Honey Boy (2019), The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019), and Pieces of a Woman (2020).

Since 2014, LaBeouf has pursued a variety of public performance art projects with LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner.

Early life
LaBeouf was born on June 11, 1986, in Los Angeles, California. He is the only child of Shayna Saide and Jeffrey LaBeouf. His mother is a visual artist, jewelry designer, and former dancer, while his father is a Vietnam War veteran and former professional clown. LaBeouf's mother is Jewish, and his father, who is of Cajun French descent, is Christian. LaBeouf has described himself as Jewish, and has stated that he was raised around "both sides"; he had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony, and was also baptized. One of the camps he attended was Christian. In Hebrew, his first name Shia spells 'gift of God'.

LaBeouf has described his parents as "hippies", his father as "tough as nails and a different breed of man", and his upbringing as similar to a "hippy lifestyle", stating that his parents were "pretty weird people, but they loved me and I loved them." During his childhood, he accompanied his father to meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous. LaBeouf has also said he was subjected to verbal and mental abuse by his father, who once pointed a gun at his son during a Vietnam War flashback. LaBeouf has stated that during his childhood, his father was "on drugs" and was placed in drug rehabilitation for heroin addiction, while LaBeouf's mother was "trying to hold down the fort."

His parents eventually divorced, mainly owing to financial problems, and LaBeouf had what he has described as a "good childhood", growing up poor in Echo Park with his mother, who worked selling fabrics and brooches. LaBeouf's uncle was going to adopt him at one stage because his parents could not afford to have him anymore and "they had too much pride to go on welfare or food stamps." As a way of dealing with his parents' divorce, he would perform for his family, mimicking his father. LaBeouf remains close to and financially supports both of his parents.

He attended 32nd Street Visual and Performing Arts Magnet in Los Angeles (LAUSD) and Alexander Hamilton High School, although he received most of his education from tutors. In an interview, LaBeouf said that, looking back on his childhood, he feels grateful and considers some of those memories as scars.

Career

1996–2006: Career beginnings and Even Stevens
Prior to acting, LaBeouf practiced comedy around his neighborhood as an "escape" from a hostile environment. At age 10, he began performing stand-up at comedy clubs, describing his appeal as having "disgustingly dirty" material and a "50-year-old mouth on the 10-year-old kid." He subsequently found an agent through the Yellow Pages and was taken on after pretending to be his own manager. LaBeouf has said that he initially became an actor because his family was broke, not because he wanted to pursue an acting career, having originally gotten the idea from a child actor he met who had things he wanted.

In the early 2000s, LaBeouf became known among young audiences after playing Louis Stevens on the Disney Channel weekly program Even Stevens, a role that later earned him a Daytime Emmy Award. He has said that "[he] grew up on that show" and being cast was the "best thing" that happened to him. In the next several years, he appeared in the film Holes (2003), which received praise. In 2005, he co-starred in Constantine, playing the role of Chas Kramer, with Keanu Reeves in the starring role. The same year he provided the voice of Asbel in the Disney-produced English dub of Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. LaBeouf made his directorial debut with the short film Let's Love Hate with Lorenzo Eduardo. He has played real-life people, including golfer Francis Ouimet and the younger version of Dito Montiel in A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints (2006).

2007–2010: Breakthrough

LaBeouf starred in Disturbia, a thriller released on April 13, 2007, as a teenager under house arrest who suspects that his neighbor is a serial killer, which he considered a "character-driven" role. He received positive reviews for the role, with The Buffalo News writing that he "is able to simultaneously pull off [the character's] anger, remorse and intelligence". He hosted Saturday Night Live on April 14, 2007, and returned the following season to host the episode that aired on May 10, 2008. He next played Sam Witwicky, who becomes involved in the Autobot-Decepticon war on Earth, in Transformers.

In Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), LaBeouf portrayed Indiana Jones' greaser son, Mutt Williams. Stephanie Zachaek of Salon deemed his performance "appealing enough" and wrote that he "sensibly keeps his performance as low-key as possible". LaBeouf told the Los Angeles Times that he felt he as an actor "dropped the ball" on Jones' legacy, and "there was a reason" the film wasn't universally accepted. His next film was Eagle Eye, released on September 26. Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly said he "makes a credible bid for action-hero status, although his occasional stabs at emotional depth don't really go anywhere."

In February, LaBeouf made his music video directorial debut, directing the video for "I Never Knew You", a single by American rapper Cage, from his third album Depart from Me (2009). It was shot in Los Angeles and features several cameo appearances from Cage's Definitive Jux label-mates. Through Cage, LaBeouf met Kid Cudi. All three of them later worked on a short film titled Maniac (2011), which was inspired by the song of the same name from Cudi's second album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager (2010). Aside from directing the short film, LaBeouf directed the music video for Kid Cudi's song "Marijuana", which he filmed at the 2010 Cannabis Cup.

LaBeouf reprised the role of Sam Witwicky in the 2009 sequel to Transformers, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Filming for the movie began in May 2008 and ended in late 2008. Due to LaBeouf's injury from his car accident, director Michael Bay and screenwriter Roberto Orci had to rewrite the script to protect his hand throughout filming. LaBeouf said production was only delayed two days after his accident because Bay made up for it by filming second unit scenes, and LaBeouf recovered a few weeks earlier than expected, allowing him to return to the set. Near the end of filming, LaBeouf injured his eye when he hit a prop; the injury required several stitches. He resumed filming two hours later. While the movie grossed $800 million, it received mostly negative reviews by critics, with LaBeouf sharing a nomination for the "Worst Screen Couple of 2009" Razzie Award with "either Megan Fox or any Transformer."

He appeared in the Oliver Stone-directed film Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010), the sequel to Wall Street (1987). In this, LaBeouf played an ambitious Wall Street trader. The Hollywood Reporter named LaBeouf as one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" into taking over Hollywood as the new "A-List". LaBeouf completed the 2010 Los Angeles Marathon on March 21, 2010 with a time of 4 hours, 35 minutes and 31 seconds.

2011–2017: Subsequent career

He reprised his role in the third live-action Transformers film, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which was released on June 28, 2011. He did not return for the fourth film in the series, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Mark Wahlberg was cast as a new lead character. In 2012, Rob Cantor of Tally Hall produced a song describing LaBeouf as a murderous cannibal. In 2014, Cantor produced a music video based on this song. Despite the title and lyrics, the intent was humorous and non-serious, and LaBeouf appeared at the end of the video, applauding.

LaBeouf has created three short graphic novels Stale N Mate, Cyclical, and Let's Fucking Party, and a webcomic series, Cheek Up's through the publishing company, The Campaign Book. In April 2012, he promoted them at Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo. In the same year, LaBeouf played a bootlegger in John Hillcoat's crime drama Lawless. In June 2012, Icelandic band Sigur Rós released a music video for the song "Fjögur Píanó". It depicts "a man and woman locked in a never-ending cycle of addiction and desire", in which LaBeouf stars and appears nude.

In February 2013, he pulled out of what would have been his Broadway debut, in Lyle Kessler's play Orphans, citing "creative differences" with co-star Alec Baldwin, although The New York Times and Baldwin himself maintain LaBeouf was fired. A month later, a film in which he starred alongside Robert Redford titled The Company You Keep was released. He next portrayed Jerôme Morris in the Lars von Trier-directed erotic art film Nymphomaniac, which premiered in December 2013. Meanwhile at the film's screening at the Berlin Film Festival a tuxedoed LeBouef walked the red carpet with a paper bag over his head with the words "I am not famous anymore" written upon it.

LaBeouf co-starred with Brad Pitt and Logan Lerman in David Ayer's World War II-set film, Fury, which was released in October 2014. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called LaBeouf's performance "outstanding", whilst New York Daily Newss Joe Neumaier commented that he "finally finds a role he can disappear into, without his image getting in the way." Calvin Wilson of St. Louis Post-Dispatch called LaBeouf's performance one of his best.

In 2015, LaBeouf starred in Sia's music video for "Elastic Heart" along with Maddie Ziegler. He also starred in the war-thriller film Man Down directed by Dito Montiel alongside Gary Oldman and Kate Mara. In 2016, LaBeouf starred in American Honey, directed by Andrea Arnold, playing the male lead role, Jake. In Variety, Guy Lodge wrote that "despite the apparent stunt casting of LaBeouf", he "easily delivers his best performance here, bleeding the eccentricities of his own celebrity persona into the character to fascinating, oddly moving effect". In 2017, he portrayed tennis player John McEnroe in the Swedish sports drama film Borg vs McEnroe.

2019–present: Further film career
In 2019, LaBeouf starred in the comedy-drama film The Peanut Butter Falcon, which premiered in March, and was released in August. In the same year, he portrayed a character based on his father in the film Honey Boy, which he also wrote. He penned the screenplay while in rehab and based it upon his life as an actor. Both The Peanut Butter Falcon and Honey Boy garnered acclaim from critics. The following year, LaBeouf starred in The Tax Collector, directed by David Ayer. In September 2020, he participated in a virtual reading of the comedy-drama film Fast Times at Ridgemont High. LaBeouf also starred in the Netflix drama film Pieces of a Woman opposite Vanessa Kirby, directed by Kornél Mundruczó. He was originally attached to star in the psychological thriller film Don't Worry Darling, directed by Olivia Wilde, but had to depart due to "scheduling conflicts". A later report stated that he was actually fired by Wilde due to poor behavior and clashes with the cast and crew.

Performance art

In early 2014, LaBeouf began collaborating with British artist and author of The Metamodernist Manifesto, Luke Turner, and Finnish artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö, embarking on a series of actions described by Dazed as "a multi-platform meditation on celebrity and vulnerability". Since then, LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner have engaged in numerous high-profile performance art projects, including #IAMSORRY (2014), #ALLMYMOVIES (2015), #TOUCHMYSOUL (2015), #TAKEMEANYWHERE (2016), and HEWILLNOTDIVIDE.US (2017–2021).

On February 9, 2014, the artists caused controversy at the Berlin Film Festival when LaBeouf arrived at the red carpet wearing a brown paper bag over his head with the words "I AM NOT FAMOUS ANYMORE" written on it. In a conversation conducted as part of the trio's #INTERVIEW piece in November 2014, LaBeouf said that he was "heartbroken" and "genuinely remorseful and full of shame and guilt" at the start of their subsequent #IAMSORRY performance, in which he occupied a Los Angeles gallery for six days wearing the paper bag and silently crying in front of visitors, but that "in the end I felt cared for however it came—it was beautiful, it blew me away." He revealed, however, that one woman had proceeded to sexually assault him during the February performance, while Rönkkö and Turner later clarified that they had prevented the assault by intervening as soon as they were aware of the incident starting to occur.

In 2015, LaBeouf appeared in #INTRODUCTIONS, a half-hour video made by LaBeouf, Rönkkö & Turner in collaboration with Central Saint Martins Fine Art students, comprising a series of short monologues performed by LaBeouf in front of a green screen. One segment in the form of an exaggerated motivational speech, dubbed "Just Do It" after the Nike slogan, became an Internet meme after going viral within days of being released, spawning numerous remixes and parodies, and becoming the most searched for GIF of 2015 according to Google.

Plagiarism controversies
On December 17, 2013, LaBeouf released his short film Howard Cantour.com to the Internet; shortly thereafter, several bloggers noted its close similarity to Justin M. Damiano, a 2007 comic by Ghost World creator Dan Clowes. Wired journalist Graeme McMillan noted at least three similarities in their article, one of which was that the opening monologue for the short and the comic were identical. LaBeouf would later remove the film and claim that he did not intend to copy Clowes but was instead "inspired" by him and "got lost in the creative process." He followed this up with several apologies via Twitter writing, "In my excitement and naiveté as an amateur filmmaker, I got lost in the creative process and neglected to follow proper accreditation", and "I deeply regret the manner in which these events have unfolded and want @danielclowes to know that I have a great respect for his work". Clowes responded by saying "The first I ever heard of the film was this morning when someone sent me a link. I've never spoken to or met Mr. LaBeouf ... I actually can't imagine what was going through his mind." LaBeouf was criticized over his apology, with some sites such as The A.V. Club noting that the apology itself appeared to have been lifted from a 2010 post on Yahoo! Answers.

Since the initial discovery of the plagiarism of Clowe's work, LaBeouf's other work has come under scrutiny. News outlets reported that LaBeouf's graphic novels, Let's Fucking Party and Stale N Mate, had been plagiarized from Benoît Duteurtre's The Little Girl and the Cigarette and Charles Bukowski's Assault.

In January 2014, LaBeouf spoke about the plagiarism accusations with Bleeding Cool writer Rich Johnston, where he stated that he saw copyright laws as too restrictive and that they did not allow for ideas to flow freely. LaBeouf later tweeted a description of his next project, Daniel Boring (a reference to David Boring, another comic created by Clowes). The description of the project was also taken word-for-word from a description by Clowes of his comic. Clowes' attorney, Michael Kump, has since sent a cease-and-desist letter to LaBeouf's attorney, which LaBeouf posted on Twitter.

Personal life
LaBeouf contributed an essay to the book I Am Jewish by Judea Pearl, in which he stated that he has a "personal relationship with God that happens to work within the confines of Judaism". LaBeouf has described himself as Jewish, but declared in 2007 that religion had "never made sense" to him. However, LaBeouf said in an interview in Interview magazine in October 2014 that he had become "I found God doing [the film] Fury. I became a Christian man [...] Brad [Pitt]  was really instrumental in guiding my head through this.". 

LaBeouf suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.

LaBeouf met English actress Mia Goth while filming Nymphomaniac in 2012. On October 10, 2016, LaBeouf and Goth appeared to have gotten married in a Las Vegas ceremony officiated by an Elvis impersonator. Two days later, a local official said that the pair were not legally married, but instead a commitment ceremony was performed. Later that month, LaBeouf confirmed their nuptials on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. In September 2018, it was announced the couple had separated and filed for divorce. However, in February 2022, it was reported that Goth was pregnant with their first child.

In 2015, LaBeouf endorsed Jeremy Corbyn's campaign in the Labour Party leadership election. He told the Evening Standard: "I like Jeremy Corbyn. I like him in every way. British politics just got very exciting."

LaBeouf dated English musician FKA Twigs from 2018 to 2019. He began dating American actress Margaret Qualley in 2020 after they co-starred in her sister Rainey Qualley's short film music video "Love Me Like You Hate Me". The relationship reportedly ended in January 2021, and in September Qualley told Harper's Bazaar that she believed FKA Twigs's allegations.

Legal issues
On June 26, 2014, LaBeouf was arrested at New York City's Studio 54 theater and subsequently charged with disorderly conduct, harassment, and criminal trespass. He was said to have been "acting disorderly, yelling and being loud". Following the incident, LaBeouf voluntarily sought outpatient treatment for alcoholism. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, while the trespassing and harassment charges were dropped.

On July 8, 2017, LaBeouf was arrested in downtown Savannah, Georgia, at around 4 a.m. for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, and obstruction. Bodycam footage showed LeBeouf making "profanity-laced racial remarks" towards police officers during his arrest. He later attributed the incident to his alcohol addiction. After pleading no contest to the charge of disorderly conduct in October 2017, LaBeouf was found guilty of obstruction but was found not guilty of public intoxication. He was sentenced to probation for one year, including time served, and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine as well as seek therapy to manage his anger and substance use issues.

In September 2020, LaBeouf was criminally charged with misdemeanor battery and petty theft for his involvement in an altercation with a man in June of that year. He pleaded not guilty. A judge ordered LaBeouf into a diversion program in May 2021, with the charges possibly dropped should LaBeouf complete the program within a year.

In December 2020, LaBeouf was sued by Tahliah Debrett Barnett ("FKA Twigs") for sexual battery, assault, and infliction of emotional distress. He stated in his response that he had been "abusive" to himself and those around him "for years" and that he was "ashamed" and "sorry to those [he] hurt." Following the lawsuit, Netflix removed him from its awards campaign for Pieces of a Woman. LaBeouf subsequently took a hiatus from acting and began receiving treatment. He received a nomination for the Hall of Shame Award at the 2020 Alliance of Women Film Journalists EDA Awards.

Filmography

Film

Music videos

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

 
 

1986 births
Living people
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
Alexander Hamilton High School (Los Angeles) alumni
American Christians
American male child actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American music video directors
American people of Jewish descent
American performance artists
Converts to Christianity from Judaism
BAFTA Rising Star Award winners
Emmy Award winners
Daytime Emmy Award winners
Male actors from Los Angeles
Metamodernism
Method actors
People from Echo Park, Los Angeles
People involved in plagiarism controversies
React is a media franchise used by the Fine Brothers consisting of several online series centering on a group of individuals reacting to viral videos, trends, video games, film trailers, or music videos. The franchise was launched with the YouTube debut of Kids React in October 2010, and then grew to encompass four more series uploaded on the Fine Brothers' primary YouTube channel, a separate YouTube channel with various reaction-related content, as well as a television series titled React to That.

In 2016, the duo announced React World, a program and channel in which they would license the format of their React shows to creators, which led to widespread negative reception from viewers and fellow content creators, as well as confusion about what their format is. This eventually lead to the Fine Brothers removing all videos related to React World, essentially pulling the plug on the React World program.

YouTube series

Kids React
Benny and Rafi Fine launched a series titled Kids React on October 16, 2010, the first video being "Kids React to Viral Videos (Double Rainbow, Obama Fail, Twin Rabbits, Snickers Halloween)". The Kids React series features The Fine Brothers (and one of the staff members since 2016), off-camera, showing kids ages 4–14 (7-13 as of September 2016, 7-11 as of October 2016) several viral videos or popular YouTubers and having the kids react to the videos.

The most popular Kids React episode to date is “Kids React to Gay Marriage", with over 40.2 million views as of September 2, 2018. The popularity of Kids React made it possible for the online series to win a special Emmy Award at the 39th Daytime Emmy Awards in 2012. The Emmy Award, that was given in cooperation with AOL, was awarded to the Fine Brothers for "Best Viral Video Series". After their Emmy win, the brothers explained, "Not a lot has changed [after winning the Emmy] other than realizing that there are shows on YouTube like React that can get similar if not better viewership than mainstream entertainment can."

Videos and YouTube stars that have been reacted to by the kids include Smosh (who later reacted to the kids' reactions), planking and President Obama addressing the death of Osama bin Laden, among several other topics. Kids React has been compared to Kids Say the Darndest Things. In October 2012, the kids of the show were shown videos of the 2012 U.S. Presidential debates. Kids React won the Streamy Award for Best Non-Fiction or Reality Series in 2013.

Teens React
Due to the popularity of Kids React, The Fine Brothers spawned a spin-off dubbed Teens React on November 17, 2011 with "TEENS REACT TO TWILIGHT". The show has a similar premise to Kids React, however the younger stars are replaced with high school teenagers aged 14-18, some of whom have aged out of the Kids React series. Due to this, the Fine Brothers are able to show more mature and less "kid-friendly" videos such as videos on topics like Toddlers & Tiaras, Rick Perry's Strong commercial, Amanda Todd's death, and the 2012 U.S. Presidential debates. Other viral videos and YouTube stars that have been reacted to include Salad Fingers, the Overly Attached Girlfriend, "Gangnam Style", The Hunger Games trailer, Shane Dawson, and One Direction, among other topics.  Later on, The Fine Brothers launched a series titled Teens React: Gaming consisting videos of teenagers reacting to popular games such as Mario Kart 64, Flappy Bird, Rocket League, and Five Nights at Freddy’s. Teens React launched the career of Lia Marie Johnson, it also featured some "famous" 'reactors' as guest stars, including Lisa Cimorelli, Amy Cimorelli, Lucas Cruikshank (who later appears in YouTubers React), Alex Steele, Jake Short, and Maisie Williams.

Elders React
Elders React was debuted in 2012 and it included seniors over the age of 55. In 2021, it became a subseries for Adults React.

YouTubers React
YouTubers React was debuted in 2012 and it included famous YouTubers. On November 2020, it is retitled Creators React due to the success of other social medias and is currently airing its one-off episodes as of June 2021.

Adults React
On May 30, 2015, the Fine Brothers announced Adults React, which premiered on July 16 later that year. It consists of people ages 20 to 55, including former stars of Teens React that have aged out of the series. Depending on the video or topic, Adults React will be specific of which type of adults are going to be reacting, such as parents or college kids.

Parents React

The first episode of Parents React premiered on August 6, 2015 with “Parents React to Don’t Stay At School”. This series involves parents reacting to stuff that kids were getting into.

College Kids React
The first episode of College Kids React premiered on June 23, 2016 with "College Kids React to The 1975". This series includes stars who have aged out of Teens React along with new stars, as well as stars that have not yet aged out of Teens React but have begun college. The content of College Kids React is similar to the content found in Teens React but more mature.

One-off episodes
In April 2014, as an April Fools joke, the Fine Brothers teamed up with Friskies and released Cats React, which went viral. In July 2016 they released another part of Cats React.

In August 2014, they released Celebrities React to Viral Videos, and now re-released yearly.

In April 2018, in another April Fools joke, they released "Teens React to Nothing" where they showed the teenagers on a blank screen. The following year, they released a sequel, "nothing reacts to teens react to nothing.", which featured the original video being played in an empty studio.

React YouTube channel
After creating four individual successful React series on their primary YouTube channel, the Fine Brothers launched a separate YouTube channel in 2014, for reaction-related content, simply dubbed "React". With the intent of running programming five days a week, the channel launched with five series: React Gaming (a Let's Play-style series with real youths from their primary React series), Advice (a series featuring real youths respond to questions from viewers), React Remix (musical remixes of past React footage), People Vs. Foods (originally Kids Vs. Food until 2016) (a series featuring Reactors taste-test "Weird" or international foods), and Lyric Breakdown (a series in which Reactors break down the meaning of various songs). The channel launched with a teenage-focused playthrough of Goat Simulator.
From September 18th 2020 to May 31st 2021, the React YouTube channel was retitled to "REPLAY", following the renaming of the main FBE channel to "REACT" in the wake of FBE's distancing from Benny and Rafi Fine as a consequence of the scandal in Summer 2020 that led to many reactors leaving the channel.
On June 1st 2021, REPLAY is retitled "PEOPLE VS FOOD" and moved all the non-food videos to REACT.

React to That
In early 2014, it was announced that the Fine Brothers made a deal with NCredible Entertainment, a production studio founded by Nick Cannon to develop a television series for Nickelodeon. The series, dubbed React to That, was "entirely re-envisioned for television," as the reactors "not only watch and respond to viral videos, but pop out of the reaction room and into showdowns where the clips come to life as each reactor is confronted with a challenge based on the video they just watched." Following the announcement of the series, Benny Fine explained, "All these viewers now watching are also pioneering what it is to be a viewer of content. They follow us through all of our different endeavors, all our different series, and now will have the opportunity to follow us to another medium." Nickelodeon ordered 13 episodes to be produced, but only 12 were made and aired.

React World

Background
In July 2015, the Fine Brothers filed for trademark protection on "React" with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The trademark was filed for "Entertainment services, namely, providing an ongoing series of programs and webisodes via the internet in the field of observing and interviewing various groups of people." The USPTO approved for a 30-day opposition period which was set to begin on February 2, 2016; if no parties filed an opposition to the Fines' trademark request, it would have proceeded through the process. The brothers had recently filed for and been granted trademark registrations for "Elders React" and "Teens React" in 2013 as well as "Kids React" in 2012.

Announcement details
On January 26, 2016, the Fines announced that they would be launching React World, a way to grant content creators the license to create their own versions of the React shows. Specifically, the Fine Brothers explained they were going to license the format of their React shows. A Variety report detailed that React World would "aggregate videos in a channel to launch later this year to promote, support and feature fan-produced programming based on their shows."  The brothers' company, Fine Brothers Entertainment (FBE) explained they would be working with YouTube and ChannelMeter on the launch of React World. FBE also expressed they would be able to monetize React-style videos uploaded under their license. On monetization, Digital Trends detailed "Although licenses are free, React World creators must agree to share 20 percent of AdSense revenue and 30 percent of premium brand deals with FBE." Additionally, the Fines explained they would provide ongoing production guidance, creative guidelines, format bibles, and other resources, as well as promotional and technical support to those creators who participated with the brothers on React World.

Reception
Although YouTube's VP on content partnerships, Kelly Merryman, originally proclaimed "This is brand-building in the YouTube age — rising media companies building their brands through collaborations with creators around the world," the Fine Brothers were met with overwhelmingly negative reception to their React World announcement. BBC News reported that "critics of the Fine Brothers have expressed concern they may use the trademarks to stifle competition," and quoted one YouTuber who detailed "People don't trust them because a few years ago when Ellen DeGeneres did a similar video—not that similar, it didn't have the same format or branding—they claimed it was their format." Viewers and fellow content creators alike condemned the Fines for their announcement, with The Daily Dot reporting, "Backlash poured in on Reddit and social media, and other YouTubers posted their own reactions and parodies of the enthusiastically corporate React World announcement video." The backlash led to a dramatic drop in subscribers, with upwards of 675,000 accounts collectively unsubscribing from the React and Fine Bros Entertainment channels as well as recent videos getting many dislikes in protest as of February 22, 2016. Mashable described that one Reddit post "ignited a thread of haters, defenders and overall discussion about whether what Fine Brothers Entertainment is doing is fair." Ryan Morrison, a gamer, lawyer and Reddit user, declared that he would file a legal challenge to the Fine Brothers' trademark request on "React", writing "These guys didn’t come up with the idea of filming funny reactions from kids. And they certainly don’t own an entire genre of YouTube videos. It wasn’t their idea, and it’s not theirs to own or police."

Though there was an overwhelmingly negative response to the React World announcement, other personalities expressed milder opinions; Internet personality Hank Green wrote "This could actually be a very cool project if it could be divorced from the idea of two very powerful creators attempting to control a very popular YouTube video format. Franchising one of YouTube's biggest shows? Yeah, I’d love to see how that goes." New York reporter Jay Hathaway wrote "The trademark and React World are dead. And that's a shame, because it was an interesting idea that suffered from tone-deaf execution."

Responses and discontinuation by the Fine Brothers
After seeing the initial backlash from their announcement, The Fine Brothers posted comments on various social media websites including Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and the comment section of their YouTube announcement video. On Facebook the Fines wrote, "We do not own the idea or copyright for reaction videos overall, nor did we ever say we did. You don’t need anyone’s permission to make these kinds of videos, and we’re not coming after anyone", adding "We are in no way claiming reaction content in general is our intellectual property. This is purely a voluntary program for people wanting direct support from us, and we continue to be so excited to work with all of you who may want to participate". They additionally tweeted "We're not saying we hold a copyright on reaction videos overall, no one can. We're licensing our specific shows, like TV has done for years". The brothers also explained they would "not be trying to take revenue from other types of reaction videos, and will not be copyright-striking". However, other YouTubers have reported multiple copyright related video takedowns. The Guardian also reported that unrelated channels featuring diverse groups of people reacting to videos were also removed after takedown requests from the Fine Brothers; the "Seniors React" video was noted to be released prior to the Fines launching their Elders React series. The Fines also posted an update video in response to what they described as "confusion and negative response" to React World, in which they try to clear up confusion on what their format encompasses, as well as inviting viewers to e-mail them about any further questions.

Ultimately, the Fine Brothers removed all React World videos, and posted a statement on Medium, declaring they have filed the paperwork to rescind all their "React" trademarks and applications, will discontinue the React World program, and will release all past Content ID claims. In their post, the brothers expressed "It makes perfect sense for people to distrust our motives here, but we are confident that our actions will speak louder than these words moving forward". Reaction to this Medium post was negative on Reddit, where users were reported commenting they would not forgive the Fine Brothers.

Accolades

References

Citations

Sources

Footnotes

See also 
 Reaction video

2010 web series debuts
Fullscreen (company) channels
Fullscreen Media franchises
YouTube original programming Heartland REACT is a chapter of REACT International based in Omaha, Nebraska. It was founded in 1967 and incorporated as a non-profit organization in 1972 to provide communications as a public service in the event of emergency and non-emergency events around the Omaha metro area.

Purpose
Heartland REACT provides communications in the event of severe weather. With over 70 trained storm spotters that rapidly deploy to relay weather and damage reports to the National Weather Service and the Douglas County and Sarpy County Emergency Management Agencies.  Members also are located in three local news stations to provide meteorologists with visual reports.

In the winter, such as during a blizzard, members of the 4x4 Patrol scout roads for citizens who have encountered trouble such as accidents and driving into the ditch, and will transport them to a warm, safe place until help arrives.  They also will provide transportation for essential hospital personnel to their place of work if they are not able to get to work safely in their own vehicles.

In the event of special events as determined by local law enforcement, Heartland REACT can also be called as first responders by the Omaha Police Department for missing children searches, missing endangered adults, amber alerts, and similar emergencies.

Heartland REACT provides free communications services for various events such a parades, bike rides, and walks/runs in order to ensure the safety of those participating in such events.

Events
Communications are provided for multiple events each year.  Some of the events worked are:

 Engineers Without Boarders
 Omaha Duathlon
 7 Lakes Marathon
 NE Science Festival
 Omaha Women's Triathlon
 Flanagan Lake Triathlon
 O.W.L. Ride
 Omaha Triathlon
 A.F.S.P. Suicide Prevention Walk
 Black Squirrel Triathlon
 Heartland Marathon
 Florence Days Parade
 Halloween Patrol
 N.A.M.I. Walk
 Omaha Metro Heart Walk
 Omaha Safety Fair

Communications Methods
Heartland REACT currently uses a combination of radio services to communicate.  When first started, CB radios were used, but the team soon evolved into more reliable forms of communications.

Citizens Band Radio
In the early days of REACT, its primary purpose was to monitor Channel 9 on the Citizens' band radio for emergencies.  Heartland REACT too used "Class D" CB radios.  However, as the "CB craze" began to dwindle, this service was eventually discontinued.  However, CB Radios were used by the team for communications early on.

GMRS
After a massive 1975 Tornado that hit Omaha, damage assessment was taken by REACT members around the city.  However, "Class D" CB radio communications proved unreliable due to radio skip. After enough donations were received, the decision was made to abandon Class D CB Radios and the team moved to "Class A" CB Radios, which eventually became the General Mobile Radio Service.  A repeater was purchased and installed, which operated at the frequency 462.700 MHz.  Because this frequency is an "interstitial" frequency, the public was able to listen directly to the organizations communications using FRS radios.  In 2010, Heartland REACT began streaming a feed of its GMRS repeater to the internet for the public listening via the Radio Reference website, and several mobile phone applications.  Though the repeater was later upgraded and replaced in the late 1970s, the frequency was never changed and was in use until March 2011 when it was repurposed as an amateur radio repeater.

Amateur Radio
In 2009, a member vote was taken and it was decided to move the organization to the Amateur Radio service.  Many members were already licensed Amateur Radio Operator's.  Because GMRS radios are type accepted by the FCC, it was determined that a move to the 70cm (440 MHz) Amateur Band was most feasible as many of the team's existing radios could be programmed to run on these frequencies, incurring minimal overhead in equipment costs and downtime during the transition.  In April 2010, a UHF HAM repeater was purchased for use.  By September 1, 2010, all members of Heartland REACT were required to hold a Technician class amateur radio license or higher.  The former GMRS repeater was repurposed and relocated to a different tower in Sarpy County and currently operates at 443.975 MHz.  In 2012, a used Motorola repeater was purchased, programmed and established in Elkhorn operating at 442.950 MHz.  Both repeaters utilize a CTCSS tone of 146.2 Hz and are open to the public except when a REACT net is in operation.  Future plans involve a switch to DMR radios.

External links
 Heartland REACT Website

References

Communications in Nebraska
Companies based in Omaha, Nebraska
501(c)(3) organizations
Organizations established in 1967