On Friday Dec. 8 the Yale Admissions Office will release the follow-up to the 2010 viral video “That’s Why I Chose Yale.”
The new video, titled “That’s Why I Toured Yale,” is directed by YouTube celebrity Kurt Schneider ’10 and features performances by Sam Tsui ’11, Simone Policano ’16, and hundreds of current students. The video will launch on the Yale Campus YouTube page at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, coinciding with a premiere in Davies Auditorium, featuring Schneider, Tsui, Policano and Andrew Johnson ’06 as VIP guests.
Watch a teaser trailer for the new video above:
In the nearly eight years since it premiered, “That’s Why I Chose Yale” has amassed 1.9 million views on YouTube and has been seen by hundreds of thousands of visitors to the Admissions Office and Visitors Center. Many of the students and young alumni who were featured in “That’s Why I Chose Yale” have pursued successful careers in the arts. Here’s a look at 10 familiar faces, then and now:
Kobi Libii ’07 has appeared in more than 10 television series including “Girls,” “Transparent,” “Madam Secretary,” and “Doubt” (shown above). He is currently a cast member on “The Opposition with Jordan Klepper” on Comedy Central.
Allison Williams ’10 starred as Marnie in the HBO series “Girls” 2012-2017 and Rose in Jordan Peele’s critically acclaimed film “Get Out.” In 2014, she performed as Peter Pan (shown above) in “Peter Pan Live!” on NBC.
Sam Tsui ’11 has performed in hundreds of YouTube videos, and frequently collaborates with Kurt Schneider ’10. He and Schneider have appeared on “Oprah,” “Ellen,” and “The Bonnie Hunt Show.” In 2016 Tsui starred in an a cappella-themed episode of “Bones” (shown above), which was written by Yale alumna Yael Zinkow ’12. Tsui has more than 2.8 million YouTube subscribers and a global fanbase.
Kurt Schneider ’10 has one of the most popular music channels on YouTube with more than 9 million subscribers and 2.4 billion video views. He has produced commercial work for Coca Cola, Nintendo, Samsung, Cinemark Theaters, and Kia. Wired Magazine called Schneider “The King of YouTube Music” in a 2016 profile. Schneider was sound editor and music producer for “That’s Why I Chose Yale” as a Yale senior.
Ethan Kuperberg ’11 is a writer and supervising producer on the Amazon series “Transparent.” His humor writing has been published in “Shouts and Murmurs” in The New Yorker. Kuperbeg directed and co-wrote “That’s Why I Chose Yale” during his junior year at Yale.
Andrew Law ’08 was a staff writer for “Late Night with Seth Meyers” 2014-2016 and is now a writer and story editor for the HBO series “Silicon Valley.” He has made guest appearances as an actor on “30 Rock” and “Divorce.”
Emily Jenda ’10 is a New York-based actor who has starred in “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway and national tours of “The Bodyguard” and “The Book of Mormon.” She recently made her TV debut in “Blue Bloods” on CBS.
Andrew Johnson ’06 is a composer and musician whose work has appeared in more than 1,000 television episodes worldwide, including “Glee,” “Major Crimes,” “American Horror Story,” and “The Blacklist.” Johnson composed the music to “That’s Why I Chose Yale,” which he also co-wrote and produced while working as an assistant director of admissions.
Miles Jacoby ’11 is a New York-based actor who has performed as Elder Price in “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway and as Bob Guadio in the in a national tour of “Jersey Boys.”
Will Stephen ’11 has written for “Saturday Night Live” since 2015. His satirical Tedx talk (pictured above) has nearly 6 million views.
