'I Quit' Video Star Wants to Turn Internet Stardom Into Comedy Career

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By Laura Vitto2013-10-09 15:21:23 UTC

When Marina Shifrin decided to quit her job at a Taiwanese company that produces viral news videos, she did so through a video of her own.

Perhaps you've seen it. The clip, best known on the Internet as the "I Quit" video, has racked up 15 million views (and counting) since its original posting on Sept. 28 and has rocketed Shifrin to stardom.

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But before the parodies, the media attention and the job offers, Shifrin told Mashable that the video started as a simple, creative idea that took only 10 minutes to execute at the end of one of her overnight shifts.

"I just kind of of realized that the job wasn't really for me, and I hadn't been sleeping because they were doing construction on my apartment," she said. "So, when I made that video, I hadn't slept in a week. You're watching me lose my marbles at work basically."

Shifrin, who had created videos of herself dancing before, shot the video at 4:30 a.m. local time in Taiwan after her coworkers had left for the night.

"I thought it was kind of ironic considering I make videos all day and so what better way to give a final goodbye than a video," she explained. Though she hadn't planned to post it, she showed it to her parents and a few friends who loved the video and convinced her to post it to YouTube.

After uploading the video and heading to sleep, Shifrin was surprised the next morning to find that Gawker had picked it up.

"It just went up from there," she said.

Before long, she had an inbox full of questions from journalists. Her former company, Next Media Animation, even created its own response to her video, a tongue-in-cheek parody of the original.

"I think that was exactly the way they should have responded. Part of the company's makeup is responding to viral videos, making parodies of them, so I thought it was cute."

The Israeli branch of media company Y&R also gained viral attention when it created a parody of her video that offers her a position with their company.

Amidst the viral whirlwind, the Queen Latifah Show contacted her, asking if she could be on a flight to the U.S. within three hours. She accepted, and during her appearance on the talk show, Queen Latifah herself offered Shifrin a job as a digital content producer for the program.

Shifrin has yet to make a decision about the offer; she only has until Oct. 14 to make up her mind.

"It's just a great offer and I really really clicked with the staff. I definitely want to work with them; I just want to make sure that that's the right decision for me right now."

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Regardless of how she chooses to respond to the job opportunities rolling in, Shifrin said she will return to the U.S. permanently to pursue comedy.

"My only plan was to just be funny, you know, and entertain people for a little bit. I just want people to know that it was made in good fun and not to diss the company. I’ve heard that some people are beginning to quit their jobs, and I just hope that if they do make that decision, they have a stable plan B. I definitely had a backup plan for when I was quitting."

Her plan B is admittedly not the "best backup plan," Shifrin said. "I was gonna become a waitress and try to sell my writing while doing comedy at night. So, that’s still an option."

Image: YouTube, Maria Shifrin

Topics: Conversations, Videos, viral video, Watercooler, YouTube