Lily Hevesh is an American domino artist and YouTuber working under the channel name Hevesh5.

Lily Hevesh
Personal information
Born1998 or 1999 (age 25–26)[1]
NationalityAmerican
OccupationDomino artist
Websitewww.hevesh5.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2013–present
Subscribers3.84 million[2]
Total views1.64 billion[2]
100,000 subscribers2014
1,000,000 subscribers2017

Last updated: May 8, 2023

Hevesh is the subject of the documentary film Lily Topples the World directed by Jeremy Workman and executive produced by actress Kelly Marie Tran.[1]

Personal life

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Hevesh is a Chinese-born adoptee from Sandown, New Hampshire, and has two siblings, Alissa and Matt.[3][4] She was given her first set of dominoes at age 10.[5]

Hevesh attended Timberlane Regional High School.[4][6] She attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where she was a "Design, Innovation, and Society" major,[7] but left after less than a year to pursue domino art full-time.[8] She currently lives in Massachusetts, west of Boston.[3] She hopes that her work would encourage more children to get involved in STEAM fields.[9]

Career

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YouTube

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In 2009, at the age of 10,[1] Hevesh created a YouTube channel called Hevesh5, a reference to her being the fifth member of the family. As of March 2021, her YouTube channel has 3 million subscribers and 1 billion views.[1] Her first viral video, "INSANE Domino Tricks!", was posted in 2013 and had over 163 million views in March 2021.[1]

Hevesh posted anonymously for 6.5 years before revealing her identity in 2015 via a YouTube video.[1]

In December 2018, YouTube used Hevesh's video "A Merry Domino Christmas" on their Twitter account without giving Hevesh credit. After Hevesh tweeted criticism of YouTube for co-opting her video for promotional purposes without crediting her, YouTube publicly apologized and tweeted credit for the video.[10][11]

Hevesh worked with Endemol Shine North America to create a competitive reality show around building domino effect chains tentatively called Domino Effect, in the same vein as Endemol's Lego Masters, announced in August 2020.[12] In March 2021, RTL 4 Netherlands and France's M6 ordered local versions of the domino competition format created by Hevesh and Endemol.[13][14]

Domino set

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In 2020, Hevesh and Spin Master launched H5 Domino Creations at the North American International Toy Fair in New York City.[15][16] The set comes with 100 improved dominoes which Hevesh described as being "specially made for toppling".[17]

Domino art

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She was approached by Campbell Soup Company in 2013 to create a commercial for them.[1] Since 2014, Hevesh's domino art has been featured at the annual Brattleboro Museum and Art Center Domino Toppling Extravaganza.[18]

She has since created ads for companies—such as Prudential Financial, Ford Motors, and Honda[19]— and films such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Despicable Me.[6] She was part of the team commissioned to set up dominoes for a scene in Collateral Beauty.[8][20] In 2017, Hevesh was hired by Marvel to create a Spider-Man-inspired domino art piece.[21]

Lily Topples the World

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In 2021, a documentary about Hevesh titled Lily Topples the World premiered at the virtual South by Southwest, where it won the Grand Jury Prize in the Documentary Feature Film Competition.[22] Soon after, the film won the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 2021 San Francisco International Film Festival.[23] It was directed by Jeremy Workman.[1] Lily Topples The World was produced by Robert Lyons and executive produced by actress Kelly Marie Tran in her first producing role.[24]

Awards

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Hevesh was listed on the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the category "Art & Style".[25] She was one of the United States Junior Chamber's Ten Outstanding Young Americans in 2022.[26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Bella, Timothy (March 16, 2021). "She started posting videos of domino art at age 10. At 1 billion views, she is the 'queen' of dominoes". Washington Post. Retrieved March 18, 2021.
  2. ^ a b "About Hevesh5". YouTube.
  3. ^ a b Gartsbeyn, Mark (April 17, 2020). "Video: Local domino artist creates social distancing PSA". Boston.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Ireland, Doug (July 4, 2014). "Sandown girl competes for shot on TV show". Eagle-Tribune. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  5. ^ Earl, Jennifer (September 13, 2016). "Triple spiral of 15,000 dominoes falling mesmerizes the internet". CBS News. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  6. ^ a b "Monday, April 13th: The Domino Effect". WMUR-TV. April 13, 2020. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  7. ^ "Dominoes as an art—and a job". All Over Albany. October 12, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Tracey, Sara (March 8, 2018). "RPI student club devoted to dominoes, for fun and more". Times Union. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  9. ^ Loughlin, Ryan (June 9, 2018). "How a Domino Master Builds (and Destroys) 15,000-Piece Creations". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  10. ^ Alexander, Julia (December 26, 2018). "YouTube faces backlash on Twitter over lifted, uncredited holiday video". The Verge. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  11. ^ Weiss, Geoff (December 27, 2018). "YouTube Apologizes For Repurposing Creator's Video Without Credit In Corporate Tweet". Tubefilter. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  12. ^ White, Peter (August 27, 2020). "'Lego Masters' Producer Endemol Shine North America Developing Domino Competition Format With YouTube Star Lily Hevesh". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 27, 2020.
  13. ^ Middleton, Richard (March 12, 2021). "RTL4 Netherlands picks up Endemol Shine's 'Domino Effect' format". TBI Vision. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  14. ^ Middleton, Richard (March 31, 2021). "France's M6 joins 'Domino Effect' with latest remake of Endemol Shine format". TBI Vision. Retrieved December 1, 2021.
  15. ^ Smitham, Tammy (February 24, 2020). "Spin Master Reveals H5 Domino Creations(TM) With an Epic Topple at the North American International Toy Fair in New York" (Press release). Spin Master. Retrieved August 3, 2020 – via NewsWire.ca.
  16. ^ Shiff, Blair (February 21, 2020). "YouTube streaming sensations create hottest toys of 2020". Fox Business. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  17. ^ Peek, Kaitlin; Ky, Jenny (July 16, 2020). "YouTube star Lily Hevesh captivates millions with her domino art, including Katy Perry and Will Smith". 7NEWS.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  18. ^ Frehsee, Michelle (September 19, 2019). "Brattleboro Museum & Art Center presents 12th annual Domino Toppling Extravaganza". SentinelSource.com. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  19. ^ Zetlin, Minda (December 18, 2016). "Domino Art Is a Thing, and This 18-Year-Old Is the Queen of It (as Her Breathtaking Videos Show)". Inc.
  20. ^ Edwards, Peter (September 15, 2016). "Domino ace wins job in Will Smith movie". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  21. ^ Tognotti, Chris (October 15, 2017). "This domino artist shows off an epic Spider-Man arrangement". The Daily Dot. Retrieved August 3, 2020.
  22. ^ Whittaker, Richard (March 19, 2021). "SXSW Film Review: Lily Topples The World". Austin Chronicle. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  23. ^ G. Allen Johnson, "SFFilm names 'Naked Singularity,' 'Cuban Dancer,' 'Lily Topples The World' top winners during virtual awards ceremony". San Francisco Chronicle, April 17, 2021.
  24. ^ "The Resurrection of Kelly Marie Tran: On Surviving 'Star Wars' Bullying, the Pressures of Representation, and 'Raya and the Last Dragon'". The Hollywood Reporter. March 3, 2021.
  25. ^ Guthrie, Grace (October 23, 2020). "This YouTuber made a career out of toppling dominoes". WDIV-TV. Retrieved October 26, 2020.
  26. ^ "Domino Artist honored". Carriage Towne News. September 8, 2022. Retrieved September 13, 2022.
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