ABOUT DAVID L. WADLEY
Award-Winning Author Exploring AI, Power, and Afrofuturist Futures
David L. Wadley is an award-winning author, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and accredited investor whose work explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, finance, government, politics, and social change through commercially driven storytelling.
Drawing upon decades of experience in Hollywood, public service, and financial markets, he creates stories that combine cinematic suspense with timely themes and contemporary Black protagonists.
Wadley is the creator of The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy—The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Passport Bro, and Bulls, Bears, and Bad Bitches—three interconnected novels developed as award-winning, adaptation-ready intellectual property for feature films, limited series, and premium television.
The trilogy explores defining issues of the twenty-first century, including artificial intelligence, predictive surveillance, immigration, financial markets, political influence, modern relationships, and the growing tension between technological innovation and human freedom. Blending political thrillers, contemporary drama, and speculative fiction, the series follows compelling Black protagonists navigating worlds transformed by rapidly advancing technology.
The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy swept the 2026 International Firebird Book Awards in African American Fiction, winning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. Wadley's literary success extended beyond the trilogy, with AI Stocks Made Simple winning 2nd place in Business and Kamala 2028 earning 4th place in Thriller.
The trilogy also earned consecutive recognition in the Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest. The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised received the 2025 Literary Titan Gold Book Award on April 4, 2025—the 57th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination—and was named a 2025 Readers' Favorite Finalist — Fiction: Urban. Bulls, Bears, and Bad Bitches won the 2026 Readers' Favorite International Book Award Bronze Medal — Fiction: Urban, giving Wadley recognition in the same category in consecutive years with two different novels—an achievement Readers' Favorite described as “exceedingly rare.”
Wadley is a Lifetime Member of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), an organization dedicated to advancing African American literature, improving library services and resources for African American communities, and supporting the professional development of African American librarians. His lifetime membership reflects his commitment to expanding the visibility, accessibility, and representation of African American voices in literature.
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Jesse Jackson and David L. Wadley
New York City 1987
Hollywood and Entertainment Career
Before becoming an award-winning novelist, Wadley built an extensive career in the entertainment industry spanning film production, postproduction, sound editing, international television distribution, filmmaking, and entertainment education, providing firsthand insight into bringing stories from concept to screen.
Wadley began his film career working in production on films directed or produced by Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Robert De Niro, and Mario Van Peebles. He later worked for Warner Bros. Studios, Sony Pictures Studios, MGM Studios, Panavision, and Technicolor, contributing to numerous feature films and television productions.
A member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700), Wadley served as Supervising Sound Editor on Soul Plane (2004), starring Kevin Hart, Mo'Nique, Sofía Vergara, and Snoop Dogg.
As an M&E Postproduction Supervisor at Sony Pictures Studios, Wadley helped oversee international versions of television series including The King of Queens, The Steve Harvey Show, Just Shoot Me!, and Dawson's Creek.
At Warner Bros. Studios, he contributed to internationally distributed versions of acclaimed television programs including ER, Friends, The West Wing, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Third Watch, The Bernie Mac Show, and The Drew Carey Show, as well as feature films including Training Day, Scooby-Doo, and White Oleander.
Wadley also wrote, produced, and directed the independent feature film Dark Angels (1998), the first Hard Faith film and the work that launched the Hard Faith genre. His filmmaking background continues to shape the visual storytelling, pacing, dialogue, and cinematic structure found throughout his novels.
He created Black Film School, an educational platform sharing practical insights into filmmaking, entertainment law, film packaging, and the business of Hollywood. The platform helps aspiring filmmakers and storytellers better understand the path from original idea to commercial production.
Wadley also created Straight Talk with Maya, a relationship-focused video series offering candid, practical perspectives on dating, communication, red flags, and the challenges facing modern women and men.
Investing, Entrepreneurship, and Financial Education
Beyond entertainment, Wadley has built a career centered on investing, entrepreneurship, and financial education. As an accredited investor, he actively follows artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, and financial markets, bringing practical investment knowledge to both his fiction and nonfiction writing.
His understanding of market psychology, investment strategy, and technological innovation informs many of the financial themes explored throughout Bulls, Bears, and Bad Bitches and his broader body of work.
He is also the author of AI Stocks Made Simple, a beginner-focused guide designed to help readers understand artificial intelligence investing and publicly traded companies, and the fundamentals of participating in financial markets.
Wadley is the founder and president of The Price Bandit LLC, a media company dedicated to helping audiences better understand artificial intelligence, investing, and wealth creation. Through books, educational videos, and digital media, he encourages readers and viewers to think critically about the opportunities and challenges presented by rapidly changing technologies.
He is also the creator of Stock Soul, a distinctive music concept blending classic rhythm and blues with themes of investing, economics, and financial empowerment. Drawing upon the sound editing and mixing expertise developed during his Hollywood career, he has produced hundreds of music and educational videos viewed by audiences worldwide. Wadley completed the Applied Value Investing Certificate Program through Wharton Online, further strengthening his knowledge of long-term, value-oriented investing and financial analysis.
Early Life, Education, and Public Service
Born on a United States military base in Germany during the Civil Rights era, Wadley was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He attended Morehouse College before studying film production at Hunter College in New York City after receiving encouragement from fellow Cleveland native and Oscar-winning screenwriter Ernest Tidyman, whose credits include Shaft and The French Connection. During his years in New York, Wadley developed lifelong interests in filmmaking, politics, civil rights, and public service while working and studying in one of the world's great cultural centers.
His professional journey eventually extended into federal and public service, where he served as a firefighter, Transportation Security Officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Officer, and Pennsylvania Tax Examiner.
Working within emergency services, aviation security, immigration, taxation, and complex governmental institutions provided him with firsthand insight into leadership, crisis management, bureaucracy, ethics, and decision-making.
Those experiences continue to shape the authenticity of the governmental, financial, and institutional settings portrayed throughout his fiction.
Advocacy, Cultural Diversity, and Documentary Film
Wadley created the website All Women Are Beautiful (AWAB) to promote cultural diversity and inner beauty. He later used the platform to assist with the preproduction, fundraising, and promotion of a film project, leading the producers to recognize him with a "Special Thanks" credit in the closing titles of The Invisible War (2012),
the Academy Award-nominated documentary examining sexual assault in the U.S. military.
Two days after viewing the documentary, former CIA Director and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta directed military commanders to transfer sexual assault investigations to higher-ranking officers and announced the creation of Special Victims Units across every branch of the U.S. Armed Forces.
The Invisible War received an Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Feature and was widely recognized for influencing military policy and raising national awareness of sexual assault in the military.
Literary Vision and Film & Television Adaptations
Across every chapter of his career—from filmmaking and postproduction to investing, entrepreneurship, public service, and publishing—Wadley has remained committed to creating commercially compelling stories that also explore issues of technology, wealth, democracy, identity, power, and social change.
Today, his primary creative focus is expanding The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy into feature films, limited series, and premium television while continuing to develop commercially driven, Black-led intellectual property for the global marketplace.
Written with cinematic scope and franchise potential, the trilogy combines political intrigue, artificial intelligence, financial suspense, and contemporary relationships to tell stories intended to resonate with international audiences.
Film and television adaptation rights for The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy are represented by RAMO Law, an entertainment law firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York that represents filmmakers, producers, studios, production companies, and creators throughout the entertainment industry.
Selected Recognition
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Literary Titan Gold Book Award — The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised
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Readers' Favorite International Book Award Finalist — The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised
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Multiple Readers' Favorite Five-Star Editorial Reviews
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Member, Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700)
Selected Film & Television Credits
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Writer, Producer & Director — Dark Angels (1998)
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Supervising Sound Editor — Soul Plane (2004)
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Warner Bros. Studios
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Sony Pictures Studios
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MGM Studios
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Panavision
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Technicolor
Current Projects
The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy
Award-winning, adaptation-ready intellectual property developed for feature films, limited series, and premium television.
Film and television adaptation rights are represented by RAMO Law.