Mike Brenton Dahlquist (born June 23, 1987), known professionally as Mike Diva, is an American film director, visual effects artist, musician, and YouTuber. After establishing his YouTube channel in 2006, he created multiple internet videos that went viral on the platform, one of which being Japanese Donald Trump Commercialトランプ2016, a Japanese styled politically satirical video disguised as a campaign commercial for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, which gained international attention.
Mike Brenton Dahlquist was born on June 23, 1987, in Sacramento, California. He was introduced to filmmaking at the age of 14 after downloading VFX software from LimeWire.[5][6] After dropping out of college, he moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue filmmaking. He uploaded a prank video in 2011 titled "Sexy Sax Man" which revolved around Diva and his friend Sergio in various locations running around with a saxophone playing George Michael's "Careless Whisper" to people, which went viral on YouTube.
In June 2016, Diva's video Japanese Donald Trump Commercialトランプ2016 gained international attention, with some 8 million views on Facebook and almost 300,000 views on YouTube in its first 24 hours. The video is presented as a Japanese commercial promoting the Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. The video was shot over a month and a half with virtually no budget and stars the cosplayer and wig stylist known as sushimonstuh.[7][8]Slate described the work as "a dizzying, sorbet-hued phantasmagoria that gestures toward the coming end times."[7]
Diva previously lived in Los Angeles, currently residing in New York City.[15] He is apolitical and atheistic, and describes himself as someone afflicted with ADHD. He has an older brother who attended the University of California in Berkeley.
Awards and nominations
Year
Work
Category
Award
Result
2018
Halo Top Creamery "Eat The Ice Cream"
Best Marketing and Communications Educational Effort
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