OBAC ALUMNI SELECTED AS PLAYBACK TOP 10 ONE’S TO WATCH: Adrian Wallace
Angelica Babiera from Playback Magazine wrote a piece on our OYA Emerging Filmmaker and Business Bootcamp Alumni Adrian Wallace Selecting him in their [Playback’s] Top 10 ones to watch in 2022! Read the highlight from a great spotlight for a trailblazing black filmmaker.
Adrian Wallace knew early on that he wanted to be the change he wished to see in the world.
The Malton, Ont.-raised, 30-year-old filmmaker, known for directorial and writer credits including his documentary Black Sun, the web series Courtside, and MTV’s Hip Hop My House from showrunner David F. Mewa, always had a knack for creating positive change for young, Black Canadians through the art of filmmaking.
Growing up in a low-income neighbourhood, Wallace adopted a personal mission to reinvent the wheel on the portrayal of marginalized communities in the media to help inspire the next generation of Black Canadians to make a positive change in their lives.
“I grew up in a neighbourhood that was often portrayed in a bad light in the media, and because of that, it was challenging to identify and highlight the beauty and positivity of a community like mine growing up,” Wallace tells Playback Daily.
“I knew I wanted to make a change and help [inspire] these teens living in a neighbourhood like mine to try and get out of there and make something out of themselves. But I knew that couldn’t be done through a simple lecture or talk with them. They needed to see it, because how can they believe there is good out there when all they’ve known is a taxing environment?”
That drive influenced him to create his award-winning web series Courtside as part of an assignment during his final year in Humber College’s film and television production program. The drama follows two brothers who live in an “urban hood” and try to succeed in the environment they are in by pursuing professional basketball and music.
“I created a sizzle in my final year of film school as a proof of concept to apply for the Bell Independent Production Fund. We didn’t make it past the second round, but I took this shortcoming as an opportunity to reinvent the lauded web series that it is today the year after I graduated. Courtside really is the project that was my calling card to the industry,” he says.
Wallace wrote, directed and co-led Courtside, which he produced alongside filmmaker Omran Omaid, with a self-funded budget of $5,000. Jonathan Pereira is also a producer of its first season. Wallace cast his own family members and friends in the series to enrich its authenticity. It won several honours including the Audience Choice Award at the 2017 Miami WebFest, and Best Web Series at the 2018 Toronto Nollywood International Film Festival.
Read more:https://playbackonline.ca/2022/09/29/playbacks-10-to-watch-2022-adrian-wallace/#ixzz7gIqV9Sv2
