Andrew Baron
| Andrew Baron | |
|---|---|
|
Baron in 2006 | |
| Born |
Andrew Michael Baron March 31, 1980 |
| Nationality | American |
| Notable work | Rocketboom |
| Website |
www |
Andrew Michael Baron (born 1980) is the creator of Rocketboom, Know Your Meme and the video aggregator site, Magma. Baron has taught undergraduate and graduate classes at Parsons and was teaching at M.I.T. when he came up with the idea for Rocketboom.
Early life
Baron holds a BA in Philosophy from Bates College and an MFA in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design.
Early career
In 1999, Baron was the owner of a visual and performing arts gallery, Movements Gallery on 6th Street in Austin, Texas which the Austin Chronicle named 'Best New Multi-Disciplinary Space in Austin' in the 'Best of Austin's Critics Poll'.[1]
An active music composer throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Baron scored numerous scores for Austin-area artists, including "Mad About Harry", a film by AMFILMS awarded as a Hollywood Film Festival, 2000 finalist. He was appointed by the City of Austin Arts Commission to serve as a Mixed Arts Advisory Panelist, 2001.[2]
Online video
After releasing Rocketboom in late 2004, Baron established himself as one of the first vloggers and arguably one of the most influential. With Rocketboom, Baron built one of the first large audiences around a video show, and went on to generate the first large scale advertising deals.[3][4]
On August 19, 2005, Baron was interviewed on CBS Evening News. In an "Eye on America" segment CBS veteran Jim Axelrod commented on the effort at daily news coverage on a limited budget and Baron's early grasp of the next Internet wave. "You know what they call that? Vision."[5]
Baron directed a portion of "Killer," an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation which aired February 2, 2006.[6]
Steve Jobs featured Baron's Rocketboom on stage when releasing the video iPod[7] and again when releasing the AppleTV[8]
In March 2006, Baron commented on the sale of a week of advertising for $40,000 on eBay in Brandweek:
"Advertising with us has extra value, because we aren't going to accept advertising from someone whose morals are against us, someone like Hummer," said Rocketboom producer Andrew Baron. The creators of the show are acting as ad agency as well as media for the ads for TRM and EarthLink. "We've got to approve the ads and if we like them, chances are our viewers will like 'em."[9]
In 2008, Baron created the first version of the Know Your Meme database, to accompany a spin-off show he created and produced for Rocketboom.
Also in 2008, with one of the most followed Twitter accounts, Baron made international news when he put his Twitter account up for sale on eBay.[10]
Baron released his third major site, Magma, in 2009.[11]
In 2011, Baron, sold Know Your Meme to Cheezburger in a reported "low seven figure deal".[12]
Awards
Baron's work had been recognized by the Webbys,[13] the Vloggies and Streamys.[14]
Personal life
Andrew Baron is the son of trial lawyer Fred Baron. Andrew Baron made international news again in 2008, when he used his blog to plea with a drug company to help save his father's life.[15]
References
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
- ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
- ↑ http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB117873682757897483-YOE18NkHlFKKRDnCxjJx_OTtvvE_20080513.html
- ↑ http://www.dembot.net/011627.html
- ↑ http://futuremediatv.blogspot.com/2005/08/cbs-features-rocketboom-leading.html
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2284715/
- ↑ http://www.dembot.net/006807.html
- ↑ http://www.dembot.net/010811.html
- ↑ http://www.brandweek.com/bw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002034874
- ↑ http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-9917670-52.html
- ↑ http://dembot.com/post/106602229/magma
- ↑ http://news.tubefilter.tv/2011/03/28/know-your-meme-acquired-by-cheezburger-in-seven-figure-deal/
- ↑ http://www.dembot.net/009018.html
- ↑ http://dembot.com/post/515551780/rocketboom-alyankovic-this-streamys-for-you
- ↑ http://techcrunch.com/2008/10/14/rocketboom-founder-fighting-for-fathers-life-meanwhile-drug-company-committing-pr-suicide/
- Axelrod, Jim. CBS Evening News: "Eye on America" (August 19, 2005)
- Farhi, Paul. "Rocketboom!": American Journalism Review (June–July, 2006)
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Andrew Baron. |