When Howard Davies-Carr’s home video Charlie Bit My Fingerhad racked up about 200m views on YouTube, he found himself overwhelmed with requests from advertisers and chat shows.
His background in technical software sales had not prepared him for negotiating such contracts and so he turned to an acquaintance, Damian Collier, an entertainment consultant with a legal background in handling television, music and theatre rights.
For those unfamiliar with Charlie Bit My Finger, it is a 56-second home video of a boy and his baby brother in which the latter bites the former’s finger. Filmed in 2007, it is also one of YouTube’s most watched videos, with close to half a billion views.