YoutubeJared Frank's video of his strange encounter on Peru's Machu Picchu went viral on YouTube last week, amassing more than 22 million hits
REGINA — A Regina man is hoping his 15 minutes of fame for getting kicked in the head by a train conductor will make him a little money, too.
Jared Frank’s video of his strange encounter on Peru’s Machu Picchu went viral on YouTube last week, amassing more than 22 million hits.
It also sparked interest from several companies wanting to sign licensing agreements with him.
He says he picked one and signed a deal which helps him monetize the video any time it is broadcast by a television broadcaster, and YouTube itself pays him for views.
Frank says he and friends were hiking up a mountain in March to get to the ancient Incan site when he decided to shoot a video of himself with a train going by in the background — possibly closer than he anticipated.
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As the train sped by, the whistle blasted and a conductor booted him in the head, leaving Frank reeling but uninjured.
“Wow, that guy kicked me in the head,” a shocked Frank blurts on the video.
Many viewers had less than complimentary comments for Frank, but he’s taking it all in stride.
“You can put up a video of saving a baby puppy and you’re going to get negative comments,” he says. “It doesn’t matter what you do on the internet. I knew what to expect as far as the comments, but as far as the sharing and how far the video got, I absolutely did not expect that.”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dy8Yt-P614w&w=620&h=379]
Frank isn’t quite sure how much money he has made from the video yet. Youtube will update him on that at the end of May and he has to wait 60 days before his licensing company will get the money from television companies.
But he says he doesn’t want to get his hopes up.
“People probably already are seeing me in a negative light as the idiot who got kicked in the head, so I don’t want to be the idiot who thought he was going to make millions of dollars and ended up with a $400 pay cheque,” he says.
As for all of the negative comments, Frank says they’ll all be worth it if the video pays for his trip to Peru.