Charles "Chuck" Lee Wilson Jr. (born April 23, 1968) is an American entrepreneur. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of Babygrande Global, an American multi-stage diversified investment corporation based in New York.[1] Babygrande Global currently has holdings in the music, golf, craft beer, film, technology and supercar industries.
Charles "Chuck" Wilson | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 23, 1968 |
| Education | University of Virginia (BA/JD/MBA) |
| Occupation |
|
| Organizations | Kappa Alpha Psi (Life Member) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives |
|
| Honors | 1990 Lawn Resident. Selected by fellow students at the University of Virginia |
Career
editFilm
editWilson broke into the film industry as an intern for Spike Lee on the set of 1994's Crooklyn.[2] Wilson sold his first script to Danny DeVito in 1999.[3] 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[5] and Jersey Films purchased his untitled urban comedy pitch, centered on golf.[6] Trife Life was set to star Mos Def, but never came to fruition.[3] 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.[7] Breakfast At Ben's appeared on Warner Brothers's compilation, Afrocentricity[8] and premiered at the 2000 Urbanworld Film Festival. It also appeared in the DC Independent Film Festival[9] as well as the Maryland Film Festival.[10] Wilson went on to co-write the film, Soul Plane which was described by Variety magazine as a next generation Airplane!.[11] 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.[12] 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.[13] The film was part of a deal with Maverick Films company, then owned by Madonna.[14] Despite its comedic nature, the film was also set to examine class differences within the black community.[2] Wilson has also collaborated with RZA on a screenplay entitle "Black Shampoo" based on the Wu-Tang Clan leader's alter-ego, Bobby Digital.[15]
Music
editDuring his tenure at Priority Records, Wilson worked extensively on several projects, including the Training Day original soundtrack which he A&R'd.[16] 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".[2] Babygrande was initially funded by the money Wilson made from selling his scripts to Hollywood and operated from Wilson's apartment.[2] 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 The Chef of Wu-Tang Clan, Brand Nubian, Grand Puba, Jedi Mind Tricks, Army Of The Pharaohs, Canibus, Hi-Tek and Sa-Ra, among others.
In 2004, SOHH (Support Online Hip Hop)) recognized Wilson as a "player to watch".[14] He was also named one of Billboard Magazine's 2005 Power Players.[17] He has also been cited as an authority on piracy by Billboard Magazine.[18]
Television
editWilson 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 it represented the largest single slate of African-American themed films ever produced.
New Media
editIn 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".[19] In 2008, the site re-launched under the name iHipHop.[20]
Sports
editIn 1992 Wilson was an intern at ProServ.
In 2022, Wilson launched Babygrande Golf and described its current mission to support the worldwide growth and development of junior golf.[21] Since its launch, Babygrande Golf has sponsored tournaments with the AJGA, PGA Tour Player Cameron Champ's Mack Champ Invitational, and recently announced the Babygrande DC Classic, a new tournament and partnership with the AJGA and the National Links Trust.[22][23]
Wilson currently holds board positions with the National Links Trust and The Cameron Champ Foundation.
Personal life
editWilson grew up in Rockville, Maryland and graduated from Rockville High School in 1986 where he played for the Varsity Golf team under Coach Herb DuMars.
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 Doctor 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.[3]
In 2005, he married Jenise Campbell.[24] He currently splits his time between Manhattan, New York City and Beverly Hills, California. He has two sons that have attended The Collegiate School and IMG Golf Academy and currently are both AJGA Fellows at ICL Academy.
References
edit- ^ "Chuck Wilson | CEO & Founder - Babygrande Records". Rolling Stone Culture Council. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ a b c d Ford, Ryan (July 15, 2004). "Plane & Simple". Smooth. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on September 29, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ a b c Sam. "BDO Feature: Chuck Wilson". Black DVD Online. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 31, 2001. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ Dawson, Imani (July 1, 2004). "Kevin Hart And Chuck Wilson". King Magazine. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on September 29, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ Kit, Zorianna (September 15, 1999). "Wu-Tang Giving 'Life' To Drama". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original (JPEG) on September 29, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ Kit, Zorianna (June 18, 2000). "Jersey, Wilson Aiming For Green". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on September 29, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ Anderson, Brett. "Ben's World". Washington City Paper. Washington City Paper. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ "Afrocentricity (2000)". IMDb.com. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ "DC Independent Film Festival". The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ "Maryland Film Festival". Maryland Film Festival. Archived from the original on May 4, 2001. Retrieved June 9, 2011.
- ^ Lowry, Brian (May 27, 2004). "Reviews - Soul Plane - Film Reviews". Variety. Reed Elsevier Inc. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ "Frequent Playas". New York Press. New York Press. Archived from the original on March 11, 2011. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ Harris, Dana. "Wilson Meets Maverick". Variety.com. Variety. p. 1. Archived from the original (JPG) on June 7, 2004. Retrieved March 28, 2004.
- ^ a b Chery, Cari. "Player Watch 2004" (PDF). SOHH.com. Retrieved June 28, 2005.[dead link] Alt URL Archived September 29, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Film Notes". Spin. December 1, 2001. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ "Babygrande Inks Distribution Deal With Koch". RapMusic.com. Archived from the original on October 2, 2011. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ Martens, Todd (March 12, 2005). "Power Players". Billboard Magazine. p. 14. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ Martens, Todd (July 9, 2005). "Shades Of Indie Grey". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ Martens, Todd (September 16, 2006). "Crack That Web". Billboard Magazine. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
- ^ Nicole, Kristen. "Crackspace Loses The "Bad" Name, Becomes iHipHop". Mashable. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
- ^ "Babygrande Golf to Title Sponsor New AJGA Event". AJGA. May 10, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ "Mack Champ Invitational focuses on identifying talented diverse golfers". AJGA. March 23, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ "Schedule of Events". AJGA. March 28, 2023. Retrieved May 17, 2023.
- ^ "Jenise Campbell And Charles Wilson Jr". The New York Times. May 15, 2005. Retrieved March 28, 2011.
