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==Biography==
==Biography==
Ballen was born in [[New York City|New York]].<ref name="tavis" /> He is the son of [[Belize]]-born and [[Jamaica]]n parents, Sandra, an artist and Patrick, a general surgeon.<ref name="cultural" /> Ballen was raised in [[Greensboro]], [[North Carolina]] by his father and step-mother, Naomi with sisters Sharon and Jennifer. As an early adolescent Ballen's father and step-mother became convinced he needed greater structure and challenge than public schools in Greensboro could provide. After a battery of intellectual and psychological tests affirmed their instincts, Ballen left home aged 14 to attend [[Hargrave Military Academy]], in Chatham, Va. In Ballen’s senior year at Hargrave, he attained the rank of Corps Commander, becoming the first person of colour in school history to do so.<ref name="academy">[[Hargrave Military Academy]]，Hargrave Military Academy.</ref> Ballen majored in Political Science and International Affairs at [[The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]<ref name="tavis" /> in the mid 1990s, he was inducted into [[Pi Sigma Alpha]] (National Political Science Honor Society)<ref>http://www.apsanet.org/~psa/</ref> and earned a [[Woodrow Wilson Fellowship]] in International Affairs. Ballen's Woodrow Wilson Fellowship recommendation was written by Columbia Professor of Sociology [[Peter Bearman]], who was a professor at UNC during Ballen’s undergraduate studies there. Ballen served as Bearman’s undergraduate teaching assistant in his Sociology 010 course. Bearman's use of a few select undergraduates as paid Teaching Assistants was a controversial move, but Ballen credits Bearman's faith in him as a major boost to his unorthodox intellectual style and confidence. Ballen spent summer internships pursuing his interest public policy at the state and national level, spending the summer of 1993 writing health insurance policy recommendations for the Lt. Governor of North Carolina [[Dennis A. Wicker]]. He later attended [[Duke University]] Law School, in Durham, North Carolina. Ballen left Duke after two years, unsatisfied with the constraints of a legal education.<ref name="tavis" />
Ballen was born in [[New York City|New York]].<ref name="tavis" /> He is the son of [[Belize]]-born and [[Jamaica]]n parents, Sandra, an artist and Patrick, a general surgeon.<ref name="cultural" /> Ballen was raised in [[Greensboro]], [[North Carolina]] by his father and step-mother, Naomi with sisters Sharon and Jennifer. As an early adolescent Ballen's father and step-mother became convinced he needed greater structure and challenge than public schools in Greensboro could provide. After a battery of intellectual and psychological tests affirmed their instincts, Ballen left home aged 14 to attend [[Hargrave Military Academy]], in Chatham, Va. In Ballen’s senior year at Hargrave, he attained the rank of Corps Commander, becoming the first person of colour in school history to achieve the Academy's highest cadet rank.<ref name="academy">[[Hargrave Military Academy]]，Hargrave Military Academy.</ref> Ballen majored in Political Science and International Affairs at [[The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]]<ref name="tavis" /> in the mid 1990s, he was inducted into [[Pi Sigma Alpha]] (National Political Science Honor Society)<ref>http://www.apsanet.org/~psa/</ref> and earned a [[Woodrow Wilson Fellowship]] in International Affairs. Ballen's Woodrow Wilson Fellowship recommendation was written by Columbia Professor of Sociology [[Peter Bearman]], who was a professor at UNC during Ballen’s undergraduate studies there. Ballen served as Bearman’s undergraduate teaching assistant in his Sociology 010 course. Bearman's use of a few select undergraduates as paid Teaching Assistants was a controversial move, but Ballen credits Bearman's faith in him as a major boost to his unorthodox intellectual style and confidence. Ballen spent summer internships pursuing his interest public policy at the state and national level, spending the summer of 1993 writing health insurance policy recommendations for the Lt. Governor of North Carolina [[Dennis A. Wicker]]. He later attended [[Duke University]] Law School, in Durham, North Carolina. Ballen left Duke after two years, unsatisfied with the constraints of a legal education.<ref name="tavis" />


==Career==
==Career==

Revision as of 17:22, 21 September 2012

Andrew Ballen
Andrew Ballen Shanghai, 2008.
Born
Andrew Craig Ballen

(1973-04-27) April 27, 1973 (age 51)
Manhattan, New York, United States
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)CEO/Founder of AVD Media Group,
A&R Executive,
Social Media Content developer,
TV Personality
Years active2003-present
AwardsCaribbean American Heritage Awards “Vanguard Award” recipient (2008)[1]
Credited by CNN Money Magazine with helping to bring Hip Hop and club culture to China (2001)[2]
Websitewww.avdmg.com

Andrew Craig Ballen (born April 27, 1973, New York, United States) is a Jamaican-American television producer, A&R executive, entrepreneur and television personality, based in Shanghai, China.

More often known as Da Long (大龙), or Big Dragon, he is a familiar foreign-face on Chinese TV.[3] Ballen is known throughout China for his role as host of China’s first and most popular nationally aired bi-lingual travel series, Getaway, and as a talent judge on the multi-media reality show REMIX. He is also Chief Executive and Founder of the multi-media content business AVD Media Group, and is credited with introducing Hip Hop and club culture to China’s youth.[4]

Biography

Ballen was born in New York.[4] He is the son of Belize-born and Jamaican parents, Sandra, an artist and Patrick, a general surgeon.[3] Ballen was raised in Greensboro, North Carolina by his father and step-mother, Naomi with sisters Sharon and Jennifer. As an early adolescent Ballen's father and step-mother became convinced he needed greater structure and challenge than public schools in Greensboro could provide. After a battery of intellectual and psychological tests affirmed their instincts, Ballen left home aged 14 to attend Hargrave Military Academy, in Chatham, Va. In Ballen’s senior year at Hargrave, he attained the rank of Corps Commander, becoming the first person of colour in school history to achieve the Academy's highest cadet rank.[5] Ballen majored in Political Science and International Affairs at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill[4] in the mid 1990s, he was inducted into Pi Sigma Alpha (National Political Science Honor Society)[6] and earned a Woodrow Wilson Fellowship in International Affairs. Ballen's Woodrow Wilson Fellowship recommendation was written by Columbia Professor of Sociology Peter Bearman, who was a professor at UNC during Ballen’s undergraduate studies there. Ballen served as Bearman’s undergraduate teaching assistant in his Sociology 010 course. Bearman's use of a few select undergraduates as paid Teaching Assistants was a controversial move, but Ballen credits Bearman's faith in him as a major boost to his unorthodox intellectual style and confidence. Ballen spent summer internships pursuing his interest public policy at the state and national level, spending the summer of 1993 writing health insurance policy recommendations for the Lt. Governor of North Carolina Dennis A. Wicker. He later attended Duke University Law School, in Durham, North Carolina. Ballen left Duke after two years, unsatisfied with the constraints of a legal education.[4]

Career

Ballen began his journey in Shanghai on August 29, 2001, roughly two weeks before 9/11. He arrived in China with a thousand dollars worth of traveller’s cheques given him by his father. He came with his then girlfriend, driven Ballen says “by a desire to prove to myself and the world that I could build success on my own terms, even on the other side of the world”.[2]

Andrew Ballen, September 2011

Recently arrived and unable to speak a word of Mandarin, Ballen first found work teaching English at the Wall Street Institute.[3] While teaching he discovered a talent for spoken Mandarin, which mixed with a wry sense of humour landed him several guest appearances on Shanghai Media Group entertainment programming and a regular guest slot on the popular Shanghai talk show Live It Up Shanghai.[7] Ballen immediately noticed that there were several unorthodox ways to commercialize some of China’s under-utilized media platforms. Leveraging China’s yet un-commercialized media platforms later became a trademark of Ballen’s business style.[8]

A long time hip-hop lover, it was while frequenting Shanghai night spots that he and long-time friend Adam Wilkes[9][10] observed China’s lack of a hip-hop and urban club scene. This led to the idea of Hip Hop Thursday’s, held at popular night club, Pegasus,[3] targeting the younger international student crowd. Ballen and Pegasus were featured in the fly-on-the-wall documentary No Sleep Til Shanghai.[11] The weekly parties became highly successful, leading Ballen to bring to China for the first time the likes of Crooklyn Clan, Ice-T, Coolio, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Asian-American hip-hop artists Far East Movement and MC Jin.[12] serving as the benchmark formula for other clubs in Shanghai and Beijing.[13] Ballen's unorthodox entertainment-driven success was covered in a book by Darren J. Perkins entitled Business is War: The Unfinished Business of Black America.[14][15]

Ballen was also the first A&R Exec. to have Chinese mega-star Leehom Wang perform in a club setting,.[16] when he presented the MC Jin/Leehom Wang collaboration to promote Leehom’s single and studio album “Heroes of the Earth”.[17] Asian-American rapping upstart Tim Wu[18] opened for MC Jin and Leehom at Ballen’s Pernod-Ricard sponsored 2006 club concert series.

Getaway Travel Series

In 2002, a well-connected Wall Street Institute student recommended Ballen to radio personality Michelle Wu to become her co-host on popular local radio show “Live It Up Shanghai”, thus starting off his media career.[3] He quickly saw that no sponsors or advertising existed for the show – the same being true later for his TV show Getaway.[19] Ballen seized on this gap in the market, starting his own company (BallenWest Events Media, later AVD Media Group) targeting sponsors seeking China’s youth market and bi-lingual white collar college graduates.[3]

Ballen went on to host China’s first and most popular nationally aired bi-lingual travel adventure series, Getaway from 2003 until 2007.[3] No other non-Chinese presenter hosted a nationally broadcast TV series for a longer duration. On Getaway, Ballen toured China by car, conversing with locals and exploring local culture and cuisine, starring in hundreds of episodes.[19] Getaway appeared on Dragon TV and Channel Young and later aired nationally on CCTV News, and currently airs on ICS.[3]

Several brands have used Ballen’s voice based on its distinctive gravelly bass sound, including China Bank of Communications, McDonald’s, Motorola and Toshiba.[2]

Ballen also served as co-host and co-producer of China's first nationally broadcast Western Pop Music radio show I-music.[8]

Beijing Olympics

2008 Beijing Olympics concert with Andrew Ballen and Usain Bolt

In 2008, as China hosted the Beijing Summer Olympics, Ballen was responsible for handling Jamaica’s media, event production and public relations activities, including all event programming related to Jamaican track and field sensation Usain Bolt.[20] His company and partners were the only organization in China permitted to bring foreign artists into Beijing (for non-IOC sanctioned event programming) hosting the likes of Paolo Nutini and Bob Marley's son Julian Marley for Beijing Olympic concert appearances.[21]

Launch of REMIX and the 020 Business model

REMIX 2011 Launch Press Conference, from left: Sean Kingston, Jam Hsiao, Andrew Ballen, Wilber Pan

In 2011, Ballen’s Company launched China’s first bi-lingual reality series, REMIX, a talent series for amateur young Chinese performers.[4] With auditions via online micro-videos, winners are pitched against Chinese and Western stars to see whose version of global hits is best. REMIX is shown across China and Asia on TV and online. REMIX is the first content plug that inserts content into a newly established 020 (online-to-offline) business model, tying content to offline branded events, that in turn link with online social media and video-based community building, that will in turn reinforce the offline event activations creating a symbiotic cycle of growth.

Selected honours and awards

  • Credited by CNN Money Magazine with helping to bring Hip Hop and club culture to China (2001)[2]
  • Winner: Shanghai Media Group “Best Foreign Host” Award (2003, 2004, 2005)
  • Rated as one of China’s Top 5 most famous foreigners (2006)[22]
  • Caribbean American Heritage Awards “Vanguard Award” recipient (2008)[1]

Trivia

Andrew Ballen with Tavis Smiley, Cornel West in 2011

PBS and Tavis Smiley featured Ballen in their weeklong 2011 expose’ entitled China Week. During the interview Ballen made the startling assertion that he believed “China and its system of governance [had] positively redefined social justice”. Ballen’s interview was the highest rated programme on PBS in 2011 and has subsequently re-aired twice[23][24]

References

  1. ^ a b "Caribbean Heritage Awards". Caribbean Heritage Awards. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  2. ^ a b c d By G. Pascal Zachary (2005-08-01). "Make it in China CNNMoney, 1 August 2005". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Big Dragon finds his China niche and success, Cultural China, Source: Shanghai Daily,9 March 2009". News.cultural-china.com. 2009-03-09. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  4. ^ a b c d e Name *. "China – The Hip-Hop Culture，Tavis Smiley, 13 July 2011". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  5. ^ Hargrave Military Academy，Hargrave Military Academy.
  6. ^ http://www.apsanet.org/~psa/
  7. ^ American black New Yorker speak Chinese.
  8. ^ a b "From law school dropout to Shanghai and champagne，Jamaica Observer News, 4 June 2006". Jamaicaobserver.com. 2006-06-04. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  9. ^ Ryan McKee. "Adam Wilkes Interview". AskMen. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  10. ^ Adam Wilkes Interview Ask Men Interview
  11. ^ Harvey, Dennis (2006-03-28). "No Sleep Til ShanghaiVariety Reviews,28 March 2006". Variety.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  12. ^ "MC Jin in Shanghai". Uphai.cn. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  13. ^ "English Eastday". English Eastday. 2006-02-18. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  14. ^ Business is War-The Unfinished Business of Black America - Darren J. Perkins - Google Books. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  15. ^ Business is War：The Unfinished Business of Black America by Darren J. Perkins, Referencing Page:P247-P249 ISBN 0-9754594-0-6. Books.google.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  16. ^ Leehom and Andrew Ballen.
  17. ^ 00:00/00:00 (2012-02-06). "Leehom Wang Heroes of the Earth MV Featuring MC Jin". V.youku.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03. {{cite web}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  18. ^ "TIM WU的小站". Site.douban.com. 2005-03-06. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  19. ^ a b 00:00/00:00. "Getaway Episode Hosted by Andrew Ballen". V.youku.com. Retrieved 2012-04-03. {{cite web}}: |author= has numeric name (help)
  20. ^ "Celebrating Jamaicas Spirit in Beijing Travel News and Local Information,5 September 2011". Beijing.1802.net. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  21. ^ AVD Media Group News 2009-2011[dead link]
  22. ^ "The Peking Order". Thepekingorder.blogspot.com. 2008-09-22. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  23. ^ "Dr. Cornel West's BD party in Shanghai". Facebook.com. 2011-06-02. Retrieved 2012-04-03.
  24. ^ Name *. "View entire interview here". Pbs.org. Retrieved 2012-04-03.

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