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Denis Kopotun (born June 5, 1996), known online as DenisDaily and Denis, is a Canadian YouTuber and content creator based in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is known for his Roblox and Minecraft gameplay videos, and is the creator of the animated children's television series Denis and Me. He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Media list in 2023.[1]
Denis Kopotun | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | June 5, 1996 Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Alma mater | University of British Columbia Okanagan (dropped out) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Known for | YouTube content creation; Denis and Me |
| Instagram information | |
| Page | |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Followers | 268 thousand |
| X information | |
| Handle | |
| Display name | Denis |
| Years active | 2016–present |
| Followers | 518.9 thousand |
| YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Years active | 2016–2023 |
| Genres | |
| Subscribers | 9.28 million |
| Views | 4.072 billion |
| Last updated: July 11, 2026 | |
| Website | denisdaily |
Early life
editBorn in Edmonton, his family briefly moved to Nashville when Kopotun was 3 before returning to Canada the following year after his father received a job as a math professor at the University of Manitoba, a university in Winnipeg. Being of Ukrainian descent,[2][1] his parents had immigrated from Ukraine to Canada; they spoke in both Russian and English to him and his older brother, Nikita Kopotun.[2]
As a child, Kopotun spent much of his time training as a competitive ballet dancer, an ambition he pursued until he was sidelined by tendonitis in his knee at age 17.[3] He has said that his ballet training instilled a personal discipline and work ethic that later carried over into his career as a content creator and entrepreneur.[3]
Kopotun began posting videos online at age 11 as a creative outlet.[4] He has described an early interest in creating things, beginning with claymation stop-motion as a child.[4]
At 17, he told his older brother, Nikita, that he wanted to leave school to pursue Roblox streaming full-time.[3] He went on to enroll at the University of British Columbia Okanagan but dropped out to focus on content creation.[1]
Career
editYouTube
editKopotun rose to mainstream audiences through Roblox and Minecraft gameplay videos on YouTube, where he goes by the name DenisDaily. By the time of his Forbes 30 Under 30 recognition in 2023, he had drawn more than 9 million subscribers on the platform.[1] As of 2022, he had made approximately 5,000 video postings, with his most popular video reaching 30 million views.[4]
During his Roblox gameplay, Kopotun developed original characters, including a cat companion called Sir Meows A Lot, who was featured in his series Denis and Me.[4]
Denis founded a Roblox YouTuber group called "The Pals," bringing together his friends Sketch, AlexCrafted, SubZeroExtabyte, and CorlHorl. The group disbanded in 2019 following a social media controversy involving Corl.
On December 16, 2023, under the video, "My Next Chapter", Kopotun announced his departure from content creating, stating that his focus is shifting towards Roblox game development. Since then, he has not uploaded any video.
Denis and Me
editDenis and Me is an animated children's television series broadcast on WildBrain's Family Channel. It is produced by Headspinner Productions of Toronto and animated at Cartoon Conrad in Beaver Bank, Nova Scotia.[4][5]
The series originated from characters Kopotun developed while playing Roblox, specifically Denis and his cat sidekick Sir Meows A Lot.[4] Headspinner Productions president Michelle Melanson was introduced to Kopotun's content through co-creator and showrunner Diana Moore, whose son was a fan.[4] Kopotun records his dialogue from a home studio in Vancouver.[4]
The project was first announced in September 2018 as a development deal between Kopotun and Headspinner Productions, under the working title DENIS and Me, targeting a 6–9 age demographic.[6] Production began in mid-2020, with financing secured from the Canada Media Fund and the Shaw Rocket Fund, and the series debuted that fall on Crave and YouTube.[7] Season 1 launched in December 2020 on YouTube, quickly amassing over 320,000 subscribers and 20 million views.[8]
In May 2021, WildBrain and Headspinner Productions announced a deal for a second season of 20 three-minute episodes, commissioned by WildBrain Television's Family Channel in Canada, which also picked up the first season's 10 three-minute episodes for broadcast that summer.[8] WildBrain additionally took on global distribution of the series and management of its YouTube channel, including direct advertising sales, through its WildBrain Spark network.[8]
The show reached its second season as of 2022, with four 11-minute specials beginning to air in February 2022 as a test toward longer episodes.[4] The animated YouTube channel associated with the series had accumulated nearly 400,000 subscribers and over 22 million views across its first two seasons.[4] A merchandise line was also launched in connection with the series.[4]
One of the series' more popular episodes, "Lemonade Stand-Off", was inspired by Kopotun's own childhood lemonade-stand ventures.[4]
Business ventures and philanthropy
editKopotun serves as CEO of Denis Entertainment.[1] A significant portion of his income, roughly 30%, comes from merchandise sales tied to his content, including products based on Sir Meows A Lot.[3]
His merchandise business was built in partnership with Juniper, a Toronto-based e-commerce company cofounded in 2016 by his older brother, Nikita Kopotun, along with Joel Wegner, Will Cartar, and Ryan Wong.[3] Nikita Kopotun, who had studied engineering at Queen's University and interned at Cisco in China, used manufacturing connections from Shanghai to help his younger brother produce stuffed-animal merchandise after Denis left school to pursue streaming full-time.[3] Juniper went on to work with other influencers and generated $31 million in revenue in 2020.[3] Nikita Kopotun was himself named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2021 for his work building Juniper.[3]
Kopotun has volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation and, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, organized a charity livestream that raised over $50,000 for war relief efforts.[1]
Recognition
editIn 2023, Kopotun was included on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in the Social Media category. His Forbes profile credited him with drawing more than 9 million YouTube subscribers over seven years and launching both Denis and Me and an accompanying toy line.[1]
References
edit- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Forbes (January 1, 2023). "Denis Kopotun". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-06-22.
- 1 2 Denis (2016-09-18). DRAW MY LIFE - Denis. Retrieved 2026-06-30 – via YouTube.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sternlicht, Alexandra (February 23, 2021). "Meet The Company Making $31 Million A Year Helping Influencers Build Their Brands With Custom Merch". Forbes. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Derdeyn, Stuart (March 18, 2022). "Denis and Me creator builds career with Roblox". Vancouver Sun.
- ↑ "Cartoon Conrad Productions Inc". Cartoon Conrad. Retrieved July 4, 2026.
- ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (September 27, 2018). "YouTube Star Denis Kopotun Gets Animated with Headspinner". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
- ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (June 7, 2020). "Headspinner Spins 1st Toon: 'Denis and Me' with YouTube Star Denis Kopotun". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-11.
- 1 2 3 Milligan, Mercedes (May 20, 2021). "WildBrain, Headspinner Strike 'Denis and Me' Deal Across Distribution, Broadcast & YouTube". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2026-07-11.