Producer Derral Eves Returns to SUU for A.P.E.X Event

Published: September 09, 2021 | Author: Kenzie Lundberg | Read Time: 2 minutes

SUU alumnus Derral EvesSouthern Utah University is happy to welcome home producer and YouTube influencer Derral Eves for the University’s 2021 Homecoming Celebration. Eves will be honored as this year’s Outstanding Alumnus and will be the A.P.E.X. Event guest on Thursday, September 23.

Eves is the founder and executive producer of The Chosen, the highest-grossing crowdfunded movie project of all time. He was also executive producer on several viral video campaigns, including Squatty Potty’s ice cream pooping unicorn commercial. Eves has been on YouTube since it began in 2005 and became an expert through countless hours of training, research, and trial and error.

Now he works with some of the biggest YouTube creators in the world, traveling across the globe to speak at events and meet YouTube creators and businesses from all walks of life. He has led YouTube channels from zero to more than a million subscribers, earning them the coveted "Gold Play Button" and has helped generate more than 64 billion collective views. He is also the Wall Street Journal best-selling author of The YouTube Formula: How Anyone Can Unlock the Algorithm to Drive Views, Build an Audience, and Grow Revenue.

Eves will present to campus on Thursday, September 23 at 11:30 a.m. in the Gilbert Great Hall of the Hunter Alumni Center as part of the A.P.E.X. Event series on campus. He will share his knowledge, experience, and contagious passion with creators with SUU’s creators and entrepreneurs.

Both Eves and his wife Carolyn are proud SUU Alumni. He earned his bachelor’s degree in communication with an emphasis in advertising and public relations in 1999.

“There was a lot of great mentorship while I was attending SUU,” said Eves. “I really rallied around other students that were go-getters and wanted to do things in the world. The big thing was doing projects that mattered, which led me on my path to today. Those doors were open and those relationships were made through real-world experience but also giving back. If you are looking to understand where to go or where to learn, the class size, the engagement and the mentorship at SUU is top-notch.”

Eve’s work has been featured on The Today Show, Good Morning America, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, FORBES, World Religion News, and more. He also was featured on the Forbes list “20 Must Watch YouTube Channels That Will Change Your Business, “alongside Tony Robbins, Marie Forleo, and Gary Vaynerchuk. His career passion and personal mission is to help individuals, brands, and businesses make a positive impact in the world, but his greatest passion is his family including his wife, Carolyn, and their five amazing children, Ellie, Logan, Kelton, Thatcher, and Bridger.


SUU’s annual Homecoming Week celebrates the past, present and future of the University with a multitude of events and traditions. SUU invites alumni, current students and families, faculty and staff, founders, friends, and community members to join the Thunderbird family for Homecoming Week, September 20-25, 2021.


Tags: APEX Homecoming

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