David Freeman Wooley (born April 9, 1960) is an American director, producer, author and entrepreneur based in

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

. His most notable accomplishments include long-standing work with

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick (; born December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. Warwick ranks among the 40 biggest U.S. hit makers between 1955 and 1999, based on her chart history on ''Billboards Hot 100 pop singles cha ...

, and collaborations with Julius "Dr. J" Erving. The NAACP Image Awards announced on January 25, 2024, that Wooley is nominated in the category for Outstanding Directing in a documentary television or film, for his documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over.

Early life

Wooley was born and raised in Harlem, New York to parents Herman and Bettye Wooley. The family lived in the Frederick Douglass housing projects. Wooley was six years old when he began taking drum lessons from Nigerian musician, Babatunde Olatunji. During his elementary years, Wooley attended Holy Name Catholic School and graduated from the all-boys private Rice High School in Harlem, New York. In 1980, Wooley re-located to Wilmington, Delaware attending, Wilmington University where he received a BBA and MBA.

Career

Wooley launched his career in the entertainment industry as a teenage drummer, recording with professionals including gospel singer

Cissy Houston Emily "Cissy" Houston ( ''née'' Drinkard; born September 30, 1933) is an American soul and gospel singer. After a successful career singing backup for such artists as Roy Hamilton, Dionne Warwick, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, Houston embar ...

, and R&B/Jazz artist

Norman Connors Norman Connors (born March 1, 1947) is an American jazz drummer, composer, arranger, and producer who has led a number of influential jazz and R&B groups. He also achieved several big R&B hits of the day, especially with love ballads. He is pos ...

. In 1981, Wooley founded his production company, Dave Wooley Productions. Later, he also spent seven years as president and co-owner of DJ Group, a sports entertainment company, along with Julius "Dr J" Erving. As a producer, Wooley has worked with

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, dancer, musician, record producer and bandleader. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th century music, he is often referred to by the honor ...

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history of ...

, Loretta Lynn, and Tony Bennett.

Collaboration

His most extensive collaborations are with Dionne Warwick, having produced events for over 20 years, co-written three books with her tilted, "Say A Little Prayer", "Little Man" and her autobiography, ''My Life, As I See It''—and produced her 50th anniversary gala at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. He also wrote, produced, and co-directed the documentary Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over. The film received a standing ovation at the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

and won first runner-up for the People's Choice Award for Documentaries, later also winning the Best Feature honor at the Gene Siskel Film Center's Black Harvest Film Festival, receiving Centerpiece Screening at DOC NYC, and landing the Audience Award at the 2021 Montclair Film Festival. In a positive review of the documentary, Victor Stiff of ''That Shelf'' wrote, " o-director David Heilbroner">David_Heilbroner.html" ;"title="o-director David Heilbroner">o-director David Heilbronerand Wooley pack their film with everything you want from a musical documentary: fantastic music, a one-of-a-kind star, and deep-cut stories from family and friends. It's an inspiring tale of overcoming the odds, filled with beautiful music and prudent life lessons along the way." The documentary premiered on CNN on January 1, 2023, debuting at #1 among cable news viewers aged 25–54. As of July 2023, the documentary has a Rotten Tomatoes critic's rating of 91% and audience rating of 100%. After the broadcast, it was made available on HBO Max.

Other projects

Wooley's career has extended into the sports sector. In 1988 he rose to prominence as the only Black man in the country to be awarded exclusive paid-per-view and closed-circuit television broadcasting rights for several entire states to the

Mike Tyson Michael Gerard Tyson (born June 30, 1966) is an American former professional boxer who competed from 1985 to 2005. Nicknamed "Iron Mike" and "Kid Dynamite" in his early career, and later known as "The Baddest Man on the Planet", Tyson is cons ...

versus Michael Spinks "Once And For All" match – the largest fight in history at the time. The fight grossed over seventy million dollars. He was subsequently featured in the 2021 documentary series '' Mike Tyson: The Knockout.'' Wooley was also awarded exclusive paid-per-view and closed-circuit television broadcast rights for several states to other championship fights including, the 1991 match-up,

George Foreman George Edward Foreman (born January 10, 1949) is an American former professional boxer, entrepreneur, minister and author. In boxing, he was nicknamed "Big George" and competed between 1967 and 1997. He is a two-time world heavyweight champio ...

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. In 1993, Wooley had a vision to develop an area of Wilmington Delaware Christina Riverfront into a family style entertainment destination by building a movie theatre and restaurants then called, Riverview Plaza. Later that year, It became a close reality when, Enterprise Developers Corporation led by Wooley which included, Julius "Dr.J" Erving, and investment banker, Malcolm D. Pryor Sr., won Wilmington City Council's request for proposal (RFP), during Mayor, James H. Sills, Jr's administration. Wooley was the sole producer who came up with the idea for "The Clash of the Legends," a paid-per view TV hoopfest of 1992, which pitted retired

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United St ...

basketball players Julius "Dr. J" Erving and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar against one another. Wooley described the event as a spiritual descendent of the one-on-one games played between neighborhood legends in his native Harlem. Proceeds from the event went to benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research, as well as the Magic Johnson Foundation, a charity established by the retired Laker star to battle against the

HIV virus The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of ''Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immune ...

. In 2024, Wooley served as Vice Chair for amFar (American Foundation for Aids Research), which held their fundraising gala in Palm Beach, Florida. The non-profit organization honored award-winning singer

for her work as a trailblazer in HIV/Aids activism. Barry Gibb of the

Bee Gees The Bee Gees were a musical group formed in 1958 by brothers Barry, Robin, and Maurice Gibb. The trio were especially successful in popular music in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and later as prominent performers in the disco music era in ...

presented the award to Warwick. Recording artist

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

was the featured performer. The event raised 4.1 million dollars. In May 2024, Wooley co-produced the, "Don't Make Me Over" Europe Tour, which included performances in London, Scotland, Ireland, and Dublin. As part of the performance, Wooley interviewed Dionne Warwick on stage as she recalled stories and events from her life. This was supported by footage from Warwick's, "Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over" documentary film.

Awards and recognition

In 2009, Wooley's children's book ''Say a Little Prayer''—co-authored with Warwick and

Tonya Bolden Tonya K. Bolden (born March 1, 1959) is an American writer best known for her works of children's literature, especially children's nonfiction. Bolden has authored, co-authored, collaborated on, or edited more than forty books. Hillary Rodham C ...

, and illustrated by Soud—was nominated for the

NAACP Image Award The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...

for Outstanding Literary Work, Children's. In October 2015, then-Wilmington Mayor Dennis Williams formally honored Wooley with a key to the city for his work promoting Wilmington, in particular the creation of the

Clifford Brown Jazz Festival The Clifford Brown Jazz Festival is a free jazz music festival held annually in June at Rodney Square in Wilmington, Delaware, USA. The first festival was held in 1989 on the open lawn in the center of the city, and has grown into the largest free ...

. In 2020, Wooley was named Talent/Content Advisor for the Biden/Harris Presidential Inaugural Committee. In 2022, the city of Wilmington performed a street naming ceremony in Wooley's honor, designating the corner of 16th and Claymont Street "David F. Wooley Way." In 2023, Wooley was featured on the cover of ''HBCU Times''. On December 8, 2023, Wooley received a honorary doctoral degree from

Huron University Huron University, also known as Si Tanka University at Huron, was a private university formerly located in Huron, South Dakota. Founded in 1883, it closed on April 1, 2005. History Founding What became Huron University was founded in 1883 as Pr ...

in recognition of his body of work. The NAACP Image Awards announced on January 25, 2024, that Wooley is nominated in the category for Outstanding Directing in a documentary television or film, for his documentary, Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over.

Personal life

Wooley grew up in

Harlem, New York Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

, before relocating to Wilmington in 1980. He raised two daughters as a single custodial father, Veda a practicing attorney, and Davina, who received an MS in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. He has been an adjunct professor at Wilmington University's College of Business since 1996, where he teaches business and marketing classes.

External links

*
Dave Wooley Riverfront TV Interview

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wooley, Dave 21st-century American writers American businesspeople American directors American producers Film directors from Delaware Film producers from Delaware Living people Writers from Delaware 1960 births