Josh Wakely is a writer, director, producer, and the founder and chief executive of the venture-backed film and TV production firm GRACE: a storytelling company.
Wakely is known for securing rights to some of the world’s most sought-after music catalogs, life rights, and other coveted intellectual property to develop into features, series, and other creative media. Wakely created, directed, show-ran, and executive produced the critically acclaimed, two-time Emmy-winning children’s animated series BEAT BUGS (Netflix), based on the music of The Beatles, and the animated series MOTOWN MAGIC (Netflix), based on Motown’s beloved hits and executive produced by Smokey Robinson. Both series featured reimagined tracks sung by multi-platinum-selling recording artists, including Sia, P!nk, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Vedder, and more.
Building upon his success, Wakely’s current slate of projects includes the premium scripted drama series THE GREATEST, in development at Amazon, for which Wakely secured Ali’s life rights and assembled an all-star creative team that includes Jay-Z, Michael B. Jordan, and Universal Music Group; TIME OUT OF MIND, a premium scripted drama in development based on the world of Bob Dylan’s music, which Dylan will executive produce along with Wakely; and more than a dozen other series in development featuring the greatest artists and internationally renowned figures of all time.
On the feature film side, Wakely is in pre-production on a fully financed, music-based science fiction feature set in the near future that Wakely will direct from his original script. Wakely also optioned and is adapting to direct the best-selling National Book Award-winning memoir Half A Life, which tells the haunting story of one man’s 20-year struggle with the accidental death of his high school classmate.
A graduate of Australia’s prestigious Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), Wakely lives in New York and Los Angeles with his family.
LEGAL REPRESENTATION:
Craig Jacobson
Hansen, Jacobson, Teller, Hoberman (HJTH)