Chuck Wilson (multimedia executive)

Chuck Wilson (born Charles Wilson, Jr. on April 23rd, 1968) is a multimedia executive. He is currently the CEO of Triumph Media Holdings, a multimedia company. Wilson is also the founder of Babygrande Records.[1] He has served as the executive producer on over 100 titles.[2] In addition, Wilson was the Director of A&R at Priority Records as well as Director of Business Affairs at Black Entertainment Television (“BET”).[3] He also conceived and co-wrote the 2004 film, Soul Plane.[4]

Career

Film

Wilson broke into the film industry as an intern for Spike Lee on the set of 1994's Crooklyn.[5] Wilson sold his first script to Danny DeVito in 1999.[6] The film was about wealthy African Americans in the Hamptons, which Wilson said was akin to “a black Great Gatsby".[4] The same year, Wu-Tang International optioned his music-based urban drama Trife Life[7] and Jersey Films purchased his untitled urban comedy pitch, centered on golf.[8] Trife Life was set to star Mos Def, but never came to fruition.[6] He went on to write and direct the short film, Breakfast At Ben’s which was also a part of his deal with Wu-Tang International. Wilson was granted rare access to shoot the film in the historic Washington, D.C. restaurant Ben's Chili Bowl where his father used to take him to eat as a child.[9] Breakfast At Ben’s appeared on Warner Brothers’s compilation, Afrocentricity[10] and premiered at the 2000 Urbanworld Film Festival. It also appeared in the DC Independent Film Festival[11] as well as the Maryland Film Festival.[12] Wilson went on to co-write the film, Soul Plane which was described by Variety magazine as a next generation Airplane.[13] Soul Plane came under fire from several members of the black community including Spike Lee who accused the film of being exploitative of African Americans.[14] In 2004, he was slated to write “a black wedding comedy” titled, Meet The Mo’Fockers, parodying such films as Meet The Parents and The Wedding Singer.[15] The film was part of a deal with Maverick Films company, then owned by Madonna.[16] Despite its comedic nature, the film was also set to examine class differences within the black community.[5] Wilson has also collaborated with RZA on a screenplay entitle "Black Shampoo" based on the Wu-Tang Clan leader’s alter-ego, Bobby Digital.[17]

Music

During his tenure at Priority Records, Wilson worked extensively on several projects, including the Training Day original soundtrack which he A&R'd.[18] In 2001, Wilson left his position as Director of A&R at Priority Records to found the independent label, Babygrande Records. Wilson said, “Early on, when I saw the whole consolidation trend starting to occur with major labels, I decided to branch out and start a small indie label”.[5] Babygrande was initially funded by the money Wilson made from selling his scripts to Hollywood and operated from Wilson’s apartment.[5] The label has released over two hundred titles, including albums from M.O.P., GZA of Wu-Tang Clan, U-God of Wu-Tang Clan, Raekwon, Brand Nubian, Grand Puba, Jedi Mind Tricks, Army Of The Pharaohs, Canibus, Hi-Tek and Sa-Ra, among others.

In 2004, SOHH recognized Wilson as a “player to watch”.[16] He was also named one of Billboard Magazine’s 2005 Power Players.[1] He has also been cited as an authority on piracy by Billboard Magazine.[19]

Television

Wilson served as Director of Business Affairs at Black Entertainment Television. Among other initiatives, Wilson assisted with the company's launch of its first made for television feature film division, BET Pictures and the production of its initial ten "Arabesque Films." The original slate of ten films was historic in that they represented the largest single slate of African-American themed films ever produced.

New Media

In 2006, Wilson and several other partners formed Triumph Media Holdings, Inc which launched the first Hip-Hop social media network, Crackspace. The press dubbed the website, "A Myspace/YouTube for hip-hop".[20] In 2008, the site re-launched under the name iHipHop.[21]

Personal life

Wilson graduated from the University of Virginia, earning a Bachelor of Arts from the School of Architecture in 1990. He continued his graduate studies at The University of Virginia and went on to earn a Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law and a Masters of Business Administration from the Darden Graduate School of Business Administration (JD/MBA) in 1994. As an undergraduate at the University of Virginia, Wilson was President of the university's NAACP chapter, and was selected to live in Thomas Jefferson's Academic Village also known as The Lawn which is among the highest student honors at the university. Wilson has been a member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity since 1987. He also studied film at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.[6]

In 2005, he married Jenise Campbell.[22] He currently splits his time between Manhattan, New York City and Beverly Hills, California. He has two sons.

References

  1. 1 2 Martens, Todd (12 March 2005). "Power Players". Billboard Magazine. p. 14. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  2. ↑ "Chuck Wilson|AllMusic". AllMusic.com. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  3. ↑ "Executive Turntable". Billboard Magazine. 12 May 2001. p. 16. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  4. 1 2 Dawson, Imani (1 July 2004). "Kevin Hart And Chuck Wilson". King Magazine. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on 30 March 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Ford, Ryan (July 15, 2004). "Plane & Simple". Smooth. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on 30 March 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  6. 1 2 3 "BDO Feature: Chuck Wilson" (PDF). Black DVD Online. Black DVD Online. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011. |first1= missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  7. ↑ Kit, Zorianna (15 September 1999). "Wu-Tang Giving 'Life' To Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original (JPEG) on 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  8. ↑ Kit, Zorianna (18 June 2000). "Jersey, Wilson Aiming For Green". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on 30 March 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  9. ↑ Anderson, Brett. "Ben's World". Washington City Paper. Washington City Paper. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  10. ↑ "Afrocentricity (2000)". IMDb.com. IMDb.com. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  11. ↑ "DC Independent Film Festival". Web. The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  12. ↑ "Maryland Film Festival". Web. Maryland FIlm Festival. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  13. ↑ Lowry, Brian (27 May 2004). "Reviews - Soul Plane - Film Reviews". Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  14. ↑ "Frequent Playas". New York Press. New York Press. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  15. ↑ Harris, Dana. "Wilson Meets Maverick". Variety.com. Variety. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 March 2004.
  16. 1 2 Chery, Cari. "Player Watch 2004" (PDF). SOHH.com. SOHH. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2005.
  17. ↑ "Film Notes". SPIN. December 1, 2001. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  18. ↑ "Babygrande Inks Distribution Deal With Koch". RapMusic.com. RapMusic.com. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  19. ↑ Martens, Todd (9 July 2005). "Shades Of Indie Grey". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  20. ↑ Martens, Todd (16 September 2006). "Crack That Web". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
  21. ↑ Nicole, Kristen. "Crackspace Loses The "Bad" Name, Becomes iHipHop". Mashable. Mashable, Inc. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
  22. ↑ "Jenise Campbell And Charles Wilson Jr.". The New York Times. The New York Times. 15 May 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2011.

External links

Official website

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