Within the crowded true-crime media area, MrBallen has stored his strategy fairly easy. He seems on his YouTube channel sporting a flannel shirt and backwards baseball cap in each video, talking on to his viewers, as if he’s telling them a narrative. That type continues on his podcasts, the place he notes that he by no means adopts a “darkish and scary voice” to amp up the concern issue, although he does construct the suspense however.
Reasonably, MrBallen, or John Allen, says that the character of MrBallen is barely a barely exaggerated model of himself, offered in a means that’s meant to really feel relatable. It’s an strategy that’s paid off, with Allen on the heart of a media empire that features the MrBallen YouTube channel, with greater than 9 million subscribers; the favored MrBallen Podcast: Unusual, Darkish & Mysterious Tales; a manufacturing firm; and a first-look take care of Amazon Music.
“This actually is who I’m,” Allen tells The Hollywood Reporter. “I’m the dude who wears flannels and backwards hats and tells tales.”
Allen began his content-making profession round 2020 after serving as a U.S. Navy SEAL. After some preliminary failed makes an attempt, he posted a TikTok in regards to the Dyatlov Go group, 9 ski hikers who died mysteriously in 1959 in Russia; it went viral, main Allen to create a YouTube channel — beneath the MrBallen banner — that facilities on “unusual, darkish and mysterious” tales. (The identify MrBallen got here out of his Instagram username, johnballen, which glued his first and final identify and center preliminary collectively and led to DMs from children addressing him as MrBallen after they requested about his time as a Navy SEAL.)
After bolstering his video channel and connecting with expertise supervisor Nick Witters, who helped develop the model, Allen stated the logical subsequent step was podcasting, with true crime recognized as the primary space through which to take a position. His viewers on YouTube helped reduce down on the discoverability situation going through many podcasters, he famous.
“I actually wished to do a podcast, simply being a storyteller. And we recognized true crime as a very good vertical to be in, as a result of it’s very fashionable,” Allen stated. “There’s numerous supply materials. I additionally simply really feel huge connections with individuals I’m telling tales about.”
MrBallen tales are sourced by a artistic group led by Allen’s sister, Evan Allen, a former Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter for The Boston Globe who helps confirm narratives via a number of sources, together with court docket transcripts, case information and newspaper articles.
Ballen Studios is also within the strategy of constructing out an investigative group, led by Evan and Scott Allen, father to Evan and John and in addition a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who led an investigative unit on the Globe. The group will probably be targeted on discovering their very own tales via reporting and main Ballen Studios’ first in-depth investigative docu-series, quickly to be introduced.
Allen’s flagship podcast, which tops the true-crime podcast charts, led to a first-look take care of Amazon Music in October 2022, and that sparked one other Allen-hosted podcast, MrBallen’s Medical Mysteries.
The corporate’s manufacturing arm, Ballen Studios, run by Witters, additionally contains three different podcasts: the paranormal-themed Bedtime Tales, Wartime Tales and Run, Idiot!, house to fashionable ghost tales. Ballen Studios additionally has a administration division for storytellers within the style.
As for what attracts listeners to Allen, Marshall Lewy, chief content material officer on the Amazon podcast studio Wondery, attributes it to his upbringing surrounded by journalists, his viewpoint as a Navy SEAL and his deal with the “unusual, darkish and mysterious,” somewhat than on the grisly.
“I believe he actually is aware of who he’s and what his strengths are and what his viewers needs, and he’s actually good at delivering these nice tales and discovering that underlying compelling storytelling type that he’s managed to carry, so he stays true to kind,” Lewy stated.
As his empire has grown, Allen acknowledges that he advantages from victims’ tales. His empathetic strategy to telling their tales additionally has been touted as one cause for his recognition, however, when launching the podcast, he began a nonprofit basis that he says has given greater than $1 million to victims of violent crime and their households.
Because it stands, Allen says he does a number of main recordings per week, with one story for the Unusual, Darkish & Mysterious podcast, two for Medical Mysteries, one or two YouTube movies and a few shorter content material for TikTok in between. His take care of Amazon is for 3 years, and Lewy stated he foresees being in enterprise with Allen for a very long time, with the potential to do dwell occasions, shopper merchandise, video and extra podcasts. Allen will even launch his first dwell tour this fall.
Above all, he plans to maintain making content material. “I really feel prefer it’s my calling in life, and to try this professionally is a lot enjoyable,” Allen provides. “I’ve no intention ever of stopping.”
This story appeared within the Aug. 14 situation of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click here to subscribe.
