Dave Wooley
| Dave Wooley | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | David Freeman Wooley April 9, 1960 Harlem, New York |
| 🏡 Residence | Wilmington, Delaware |
| 🎓 Alma mater | Wilmington University (formerly Wilmington College)[1] |
| 💼 Occupation | Film producer Producer, Entrepreneur, Author and Adjunct Professor |
| Notable work | Produced "Clash of the Legends, My Life, as I See It: An Autobiography," & Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over[2] |
| 👶 Children | 2 daughters, Veda Wooley and Davina Wooley |
Dave Wooley is a Producer, Entrepreneur, Author and Adjunct Professor born and raised in Harlem, New York and now residing in Wilmington, Delaware. He graduated with bachelor’s degree and master’s degrees in business administration from Wilmington College (now Wilmington University).[1]
Career
Dave Wooley's professional career started as a musician while he was a high school student at Rice High School, a private Roman Catholic school in Harlem. At the age of six, Iconic Nigerian drummer Babatunde Olatunji — a friend of Wooley’s dad — gave Wooley his first conga drum then taught him how to play it. Wooley excelled with his drums skills and was ultimately discovered by famed R&B producer and drummer Norman Connors. Wooley became a popular studio drummer in New York City, backing singers like Cissy Houston and groups like the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and the Dance Theater of Harlem. He would also go on to lay down tracks on numerous hip-hop records and toured the country all before graduating.
In 1981, he moved to Delaware to be near his father, who had relocated several years prior and there he founded Dave Wooley Productions, a company he hoped could capitalize off the underserved multicultural entertainment community in Delaware.
He successfully tapped the untapped market, producing shows and promoting the likes of James Brown, Wynton Marsalis, The O’Jays, Run-DMC, Tony Bennett, Loretta Lynn and The Temptations, to name a few, at various venues in Delaware and the Tri-State area. He started working with the City of Wilmington on various shows and by 1987, he booked Rodney Square outdoor concerts exclusively. He then founded and produced the Wilmington Jazz Festival, later renamed the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival, still one of largest free out door jazz festival in the country.
Wooley expanded into the sports arena and started promoting numerous boxing events. Wooley was awarded exclusive pay-per-view and closed-circuit television rights throughout the country to several world championship boxing matches, including Marvin Hagler vs. Sugar Ray Leonard; Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks; Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman; and Holyfield vs. James “Buster” Douglas. In 1988, the Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks contest was the biggest fights in boxing history at that time. Wooley was the only African American in the country to be awarded exclusive the closed-circuit and pay-per-view television rights for the record-breaking bout. It was this event that propelled Wooley into the national spotlight.[3]
Wooley also conceived and was the sole producer and promoter for the "Clash of the Legends." The exclusive pay-per-view television event featured basketball greats "Dr. J" Julius Erving vs. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and other NBA legends facing each other in one-on-one basketball contests.[4] Wooley worked with Donald Trump to host the event at Trump Taj Mahal in Atlantic City, NJ. This historical event was distributed on television by Showtime and was available in over 14 million homes. A portion of the proceeds were donated to AmFar and the Magic Johnson Foundation for AIDS research.
Wooley would ultimately become business partners with Julius Erving and the two created a major sports and entertainment company called DJ Group, Inc., where Wooley served as president and co-owner for several years.[5] During his time with DJ Group, Inc. Wooley was introduced to Grammy winner Dionne Warwick and began helping her with various business ventures. The two would eventually become business partners, developing a long-term working relationship and friendship.[6]
Following his tenure with the DJ Group, Inc. the New York native began teaching as an adjunct professor of business at Wilmington University. Wooley has co-authored three books with music legend Warwick.[7] The first two (delete tomes) are the children's picture books "Little Man" (Charlesbridge Publishing)[8] and "Say a Little Prayer" (Running Press/Hachette)[9] — the latter of which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work.[citation needed] They two also collaborated on Warwick's memoir, "My Life, as I See It: An Autobiography" (Atria Books/Simon and Schuster).[10]
Warwick and Wooley have partnered again on a theatrical documentary about her life called "Dionne Warwick: Don't Make Me Over."[11] The film offers a rare glimpse into the life of the notoriously private music legend and features appearances Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Alicia Keys, Cissy Houston, Clive Davis, Quincy Jones, Carlos Santana, former President Bill Clinton and others. Wooley wrote, produced and co-directed the film, which excerpts of the film premiered at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival.[12]
Honors
December 18 was proclaimed David Freeman Wooley Day by Wilmington Mayor James Sills. He was also given a Key to The City in Wilmington, Delaware.[13]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "The Impresario | WilmU Magazine". Blog.wilmu.edu. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
- ↑ Barraclough, Leo (28 April 2017). "Dionne Warwick Movie in Works With Mister Smith Selling at Cannes".
- ↑ "The News Journal from Wilmington, Delaware on September 5, 1988 · Page 33".
- ↑ "KAREEM, DR. J. WILL GO 1-ON-1 IN ATLANTIC CITY". 5 December 1991. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
- ↑ "Kareen Abdul-Jabbar vs. Dr. J".
- ↑ Delawareblack. "City of Wilmington Honors Visionary & Entrepreneur David Freeman Wooley | Delawareblack.com". www.delawareblack.com. Retrieved 2018-06-10.
- ↑ "- First". www.delawaretoday.com.
- ↑ "Children's Book Review: Little Man by Dionne Warwick and David Freeman Wooley, illus. by Fred Willingham. Charlesbridge, $19.95 (32p) ISBN 978-1-57091-731-8".
- ↑ Goldsmith, Belinda. "Dionne Warwick tries writing but no plans to retire".
- ↑ results, search; Wooley, David Freeman (2 November 2010). "My Life, as I See It: An Autobiography". Atria Books – via Amazon.
- ↑ "Dave Wooley". IMDb.
- ↑ Lodderhose, Diana (28 April 2017). "Mister Smith Boards Dionne Warwick Doc 'Don't Make Me Over' — Cannes".
- ↑ "Friend of Wilmington honored". 14 October 2015.
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