On May 2nd, 25 winners were selected to be in the inaugural NextUp class and were announced on YouTube. Among the winners was Travis Betz, known on YouTube as TheReceptionist. Travis is a highly talented and creative artist who produces some of the funniest and most imaginative videos on YouTube. 

Born and raised in Indiana, Travis has spent the last ten years in Los Angeles. As Travis puts it, " For the last ten years of my life I have been answering phones as a receptionist. With a job as soul sucking as that, I needed an outlet. Using my lap top's camera, I started making short films right at my desk. Construction paper became the characters and locations I interacted with. The series developed a small cult following and also lead me to this opportunity with YouTube. I have recently quit my job after 10 grueling years and will now enjoy being a full time creative-type person. How lovely for me."

We recently caught up with Travis and talked about his experiences with the NextUp Contest. 

WYT: Where were you when you first learned that you had won?

Travis: Oddly enough I was at the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival screening my new feature, THE DEAD INSIDE. I was already in good spirits being up in the mountains and screening my movie, then YouTube goes and drops that bomb on me! I had a stupid grin on my face the rest of the weekend. 

Travis: My super-awesome lady, Shannon Hourigan. Although I guess I didn't actually tell her since she was in the room when YouTube called me (via video chat). She watched from the corner as I made a slight ass of myself by jumping on the hotel bed. 

Travis: Honestly it didn't take long at all. I found out about the contest with just a few days left to enter. So I scrambled. Grabbed some friends and shot it in about three hours. Then used the night to edit and do post. So I really busted it out quick…I had no other choice. Luckily it all came together well.  The most challenging part was just the time constraint. I don't like feeling rushed.

Travis: That is always the same answer: Shannon. She's not only my lady but my cinematographer for everything I shoot.. She is incredibly talented and I'd be lost in a sea of boring visuals without her. Of course I also have to shout out my wonderful friends who I called the night before to show up for an hour and just fill in my video with background. They are wonderful for giving me a piece of their day.

WYT:What's next?

Travis: I'm doing a major overhaul on my YouTube channel. I'll be making a ton of shorts, episodic and more. It's gonna get crazy, so I hope you'll all come along for the ride! In the meantime (WARNING: shameless plug), Follow me on Twitter and subscribe to my channel!

http://www.twitter.com/travisbetz

http://www.youtube.com/thereceptionist

Here's what Travis says about the future of TheReceptionist channel on YouTube.

http://www.facebook.com/thedeadinsidemovie

We would like to once again thank Travis for taking the time to share his story with us. Be sure to check out his channel and we think you'll agree that his videos are truly amazing (and addictive!). We wish him all the best in his future endeavors.