Playback is providing a deep dive into the careers of our 2022 10 to Watch recipients. This year’s cohort were selected from 217 submissions and represent a wide array of film and TV talent as producers, writers, directors, and executives. Stay tuned for additional profiles over the next month.

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.

In 2019, Wallace applied to the Being Black in Canada mentorship program, created by the Fabienne Colas Foundation, which has cohorts in Toronto, Montreal, and Halifax, and helps emerging Black filmmakers get the resources, training and mentorship needed to get their foot in the industry.

He was selected to participate in the Being Black in Toronto cohort, which was supervised and mentored by the OYA Media Group’s founders, Ngardy Conteh-George and Alison Duke. The program allows Black filmmakers to create a 10-minute documentary that addresses socio-economic issues and what it means to be Black in Toronto with the support of training, mentorship, and professional crew members and gear.

While he was participating in the mentorship program, Wallace simultaneously applied to OYA Media Group’s Emerging Filmmakers program, which helps kickstart the careers of emerging and upcoming Black Canadian filmmakers. He was successfully selected and used its resources to direct and write his short documentary, Black Sun.

The doc follows two women who have suffered from gun violence and use their personal trauma and experiences to make a change in their community. It is produced by Fonna-Tasha Seidu for the OYA Media Group Toronto-mentored cohort and the program-inspired docuseries Being Black in Toronto, which landed on CBC Gem in 2020. The docuseries won Best Direction in a Docuseries at the 2021 Canadian Screen Awards.

“Adrian is someone who can impressively wear many hats, whether that be a writer, director, producer or actor. He also has a good sense of how the industry works, so he knows what to go after. I find that when I work with people who are emerging, industry knowledge is something they have to learn, but Adrian already had that under his belt,” says George.

George adds that Wallace is someone who isn’t afraid of a challenge and “steps up to the plate when needed to and gets things done by any means possible. He’s a hustler and has grit, creativity, and integrity, and in this industry, where you get more ‘nos’ than ‘yeses,’ you need someone like him.”

After OYA’s program, Wallace went on to participate in various other labs and programs, including Reelworld’s Emerging 20 in 2020; the 2021 Level UP Director Program partnered with Rogers Sports & Media and Shaftesbury; the 2021 TIFF Filmmaker Lab; and OBAC’s Producers Bootcamp Programs in 2022.

In addition to his work as a director and writer of documentaries and short films, Wallace spent time in the writer’s room of MTV’s home makeover series Hip Hop My House. The series is produced by Anaïd Productions and directed by Sharlene Chiu, with Mewa as the showrunner. Hosted by Harlem rapper Cam’ron and production designer Zoe-Zoe Sheen, Hip Hop My House transforms a superfan’s home with tribute-style decor of their favourite rap stars. Wallace wrote four of its episodes featuring American rappers Tyga, Rae Sremmurd, Polo G, and the Migos.

Mewa praises Wallace’s ability to convey elements of Black culture and lifestyle in an understandable way to mainstream media. “He’s a force to be reckoned with. He’s also very ambitious and has that drive, which is key to being successful in this industry,” adds Mewa.

Wallace is currently in development with three of his projects: his short film Stuck; an original television series called The Philosophy of Love & Sex; and his directorial debut feature film, Kasino.

Stuck serves as Wallace’s first Black rom-com and tells the story of an emerging comedian who gets stuck in the elevator with his best friend on the night of her wedding rehearsal and tries to get up the courage to profess his love for her before it’s too late. Wallace is currently seeking a producing partner for the short.

The Philosophy of Love & Sex follows a Black college student who re-evaluates his feelings on love and lust after he gets dumped on the first day of college and becomes intrigued by a new philosophy course and its professor. The series is under a development deal with producer Kari Hollend of 1 Degree Pictures and Blink49 Studios attached as co-producer.

Wallace was introduced to Hollend by community youth leader Janice Lowe after he informed her he was in search of a producer for his series. “When Kari and I met, we instantly felt a good connection. She saw my vision for the story like no other producer did and quickly optioned the pilot, and brought it to her network including Blink49 Studio’s team, Carolyn Newman [EVP of global scripted] and Virginia Rankin [executive producer],” he says.

Kasino centres on a Black, number-gifted university student as he enters a high-stakes poker tournament to replace his father, who gets detained by the federal government for illegal gambling. It has been optioned by Toronto’s Fae Pictures.

“I’m fortunate enough to have all this versatile experience to date under my belt but it was hard work,” says Wallace. “It wasn’t easy as I constantly reminded myself that pursuing my passion for storytelling in this industry is a ‘marathon not a sprint,’ which was advice that Spike Lee himself told me moments before I introduced him to the stage to accept his 2020 Toronto Black Festival Lifetime Achievement Award. I just really believe that if you’re passionate enough about something, you can do anything and I really pride myself on having a strong mentality and a hard work ethic.”

Photo of Adrian Wallace taken by Shak