Zach King

Zachary Michael King (born February 4, 1990) is an American internet personality and filmmaker known for creating short videos featuring visual effects. 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. thumb 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 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. 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 (formerly musical.ly) 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 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 three books based on the game Minecraft and a fantasy trilogy starring a self-named protagonist.

King's first book, My Minecraft Escapades, was published on January 21, 2016. A follow-up, Minecraft Mathematicians, was published on March 19, 2016. His third Minecraft book 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 his "Magic Life" trilogy, a fantasy series based upon his own life and the events 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 up the trilogy with "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 is vocal about his faith, even incorporating it into his videos. King attended Biola University, a non-denominational Christian university,

King proposed to his girlfriend, Rachel Holm, while pretending to create a video advertisement for one of her brands. 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 inspired Rachel to work as a case manager for adoption and foster-care. 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 + Film roles Year Title Director Role

2016 Zootopia Muzzled Wolf Voice only, promotional clip

Would You Fire Me For This? Zach King Short film Magic Duel: Jack Black vs Zach King Zach King Short film featuring Jack Black A Magician Home Alone Zach King Short film featuring Jamie Costa

Viking Academy Zach King Short film Stranded on Treasure Island Zach King Short film Zach King's the Magical Night Before Christmas Zach King Short film 2020 Zach King's Day Off Zach King Short film featuring Brian Patrick Butler and Nicholas Downs

The Time Traveling Sheriff Zach King Short film Pete the Cat Kawow the Magician Voice only

First to the Gate Zach King Short film Stranded Part 2 2009 – Critic's Choice Award at Bridgestone Tires's Safety Scholars Teen Driver Video Contest 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