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Josh Wakely

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Australian director, screenwriter, and producer

Josh Wakely is an Australian director, screenwriter, and producer and the founder of the television and film production company Grace: A Storytelling Company. Wakely is principally engaged in the development and production of feature films and series based on the music publishing catalogues of prominent music artists and genres, including The Beatles, Motown, and Bob Dylan and other artists in the Universal Music Group library of recorded master and publishing catalogues.

Wakely created the Emmy-winning Netflix original animated series Beat Bugs and Motown Magic, both on Netflix."

Background

Wakely was raised in Newcastle, a coastal city two hours north of Sydney on the East Coast of Australia. He studied acting at Australia's Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) before transitioning behind the camera and into the world of storytelling.

Wakely is a principal partner at Grace: A Storytelling Company, his film and television production company, based in Sydney and Los Angeles. He is represented by United Talent Agency.

Beat Bugs

Wakely is the creator, director and producer of the children's animated series Beat Bugs, which Netflix premiered globally on August 3, 2016. Australia's Yahoo7 premiered the series on July 25, 2016 on 7Two. Netflix globally premiered Season 2 of the show on November 18, 2016. The show now airs on Nick Jr. in Australia.

Inspired by music by The Beatles, the series tells uplifting and life-affirming stories filled with hope and melody. For the show, Wakely acquired the worldwide rights in a deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing to record covers of the entire Lennon/McCartney ‘Northern Songs’ music catalogue. He enlisted featured artists to cover songs in the show who include: Pink, Eddie Vedder, Rod Stewart, Robbie Williams, Aloe Blacc, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden, Sia, The Shins, James Bay, Chris Cornell and Wesley Schultz of The Lumineers.

Wakely's production company, Grace: A Storytelling Company, produced the series with Beyond Screen Production and Thunderbird. The Beat Bugs soundtrack is a joint release of Wakely's newly formed label Melodia and Universal Music's Republic Records.

Beat Bugs won the 2017 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Preschool Animated Program, and has since been nominated for eight Emmys. Awarded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British Columbia, Beat Bugs won the 2017 Leo Award for Best Animation - Program or Series and was nominated twice in the Best Voice Performance in an Animation Program or Series category. The show was also nominated for Best Animated Program or Series at the 2017 Canadian Screen Awards and Most Outstanding Children's Program at Australia's TV Week Logie Awards. In addition, the 'Yellow Submarine' episode won the 2016 AWGIE Award in Animation. Awarded by The Australian Writers' Guild, the AWGIE Awards recognize and reward excellence in performance writing. Beat Bugs also won the 2016 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) award for Best Children's Television Series.

Beat Bugs also inspired a line of merchandise that is exclusively available at Target in the U.S. and Tesco in the U.K.

Motown Magic

Wakely is the creator, director and producer of the children's animated series Motown Magic, which Netflix premiered globally on November 20, 2018. For the series, Wakely secured the rights to the Jobete and Stone Diamond catalogues that comprise hundreds of Motown's greatest hits.

Motown singer Smokey Robinson serves as executive music producer on the animated series. Motown Magic features newly recorded versions of songs by Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, The Jackson 5, Lionel Richie, The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, and many more. Each 11-minute episode incorporates a plot line inspired by the themes and characters of a classic Motown song, and an original version of that song covered by contemporary artists including Ne-Yo, Becky G, BJ The Chicago Kid, Skylar Grey, Calum Scott, and Trombone Shorty.

Motown Magic is a story about music, magic and the power of imagination, told through the sounds of one of the world's most iconic, and culturally important music catalogues, Motown. Colorful and family-friendly, this groundbreaking animated series follows Ben, a wide-eyed eight-year-old with a big heart, and an amazing imagination, who uses his magic paintbrush to bring the street-art decorating his city, Motown, to life.

Melodia/Motown Records released the Motown Magic Original Soundtrack, a 13-song collection of classic Motown hits newly recorded for the show, on November 16.

In 2019, Motown Magic was nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the "Outstanding Children's Program" category.

Other TV Projects

Wakely is currently developing multiple television projects based on various other music catalogues for which he has acquired the rights.

Wakely secured for Grace the rights to international music icon Bob Dylan’s entire 600-plus song catalogue, and is creating a television drama series based on his music.

Building on the popularity of Beat Bugs and the added success of the Dylan deal, Wakely secured additional groundbreaking deals for Grace, locking in the rights to the Jobete and Stone Diamond catalogues that comprise hundreds of Motown's greatest hits and Universal Music Group’s (UMG) vast collection of recorded master and publishing catalogues to create scripted entertainment based on the characters and themes found within these hallowed songbooks.

With extensive access to UMG's illustrious collection of catalogues, Wakely is also currently developing three television series: 27, Tropical Melody Island, and Mixtape (all working titles), all based on the music found within these catalogues.

In 2010, Wakely served as a writer on the acclaimed family series Lockie Leonard, which was nominated for a BAFTA and won an Australian Film Institute Award for Best Children's Drama.

Film Projects

Wakely wrote and directed My Mind’s Own Melody, a cinematic modern musical that came out in 2011 and was accepted into the 2013 New York Film Festival. The short film featured original music and lyrics by former Silverchair front-man Daniel Johns and stars Golden Globe Award winner Lisa Gerrard.

Wakely has optioned the rights to Darin Strauss' best-selling 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.

References

  1. Karp, Hannah (28 July 2016). "How Netflix's 'Beat Bugs' Creator Tapped Rights to Beatles Catalog". Wall Street Journal.
  2. ^ Lee, Chris (4 August 2016). "TV Projects Tap Into Beatles, Motown and Dylan Music Catalogues". Variety.
  3. Sisario, Ben (27 July 2016). "Beetles Do Beatles: Music Coup for an Animated Netflix Show". New York Times.
  4. Frazier, Kevin (24 August 2016). "New children's Netflix series puts new twist on Beatles' music". CBS This Morning.
  5. Shedden, Iain (23 July 2016). "Beatles revived for kids TV show Beat Bugs by Daniel Johns, Josh Wakely". The Australian.
  6. Dickson, Jeremy (28 July 2016). "Netflix brings on the tunes with new Motown and Beatles toons". Kidscreen.
  7. Rodman, Sarah (3 August 2016). "How Netflix's 'Beat Bugs' creator scored so many Beatles tunes and got Sia and Eddie Vedder to sing". Los Angeles Times.
  8. Porch, Scott (3 August 2016). "How 'Beat Bugs' Sells the Beatles to a New Generation". Rolling Stone.
  9. "Animating The Beatles". The Daily Edition. 23 June 2016.
  10. "World's biggest artists team up for new screen project". Sunrise Australia. 23 June 2016.
  11. Zuel, Bernard (25 July 2016). "Australian filmmaker turns The Beatles into the perfect children's show soundtrack". Sydney Morning Herald.
  12. McCabe, Kathy (24 July 2016). "Reinventing the Beatles for kids show Beat Bugs has given Daniel Johns a new lease on life in LA". New Corps Australia.
  13. Williams, Vanessa (18 July 2016). "Bugs belt out Beatles' tunes". The West Australian.
  14. Marinucci, Steve (27 July 2016). "Rod Stewart, Jennifer Hudson & More Added to 'Beat Bugs' Beatles Kids Series". Billboard.
  15. Dickson, Jeremy. "Nickelodeon Australia snaps up Beat Bugs". Kidscreen. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  16. Keaveney, Bill (10 February 2016). "Exclusive: Netflix's 'Beat Bugs' has ticket to ride Beatles tunes". USA Today.
  17. Ivie, Devon (27 July 2016). "Hear Sia, James Corden, and More Cover the Beatles for Netflix's Animated Show Beat Bugs". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved 27 July 2016.
  18. Bacle, Ariana (31 July 2016). "Sia and P!nk cover the Beatles for Netflix's Beat Bugs". Entertainment Weekly.
  19. Helman, Peter (27 July 2016). "Hear The Shins Cover The Beatles For Netflix's Beat Bugs". Stereogum.
  20. Applefeld Olson, Cathy (3 August 2016). "Netflix Orders Motown-Themed Animated Series for Kids". Billboard.
  21. Andreeva, Nellie (29 April 2017). "Amazon & Netflix Lead Daytime Creative Arts Emmy Awards Winners- Full List". Deadline. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  22. Montgomery, Daniel (28 April 2018). "2018 Daytime Emmy winners: Full list of Creative Arts Awards winners and nominees". Gold Derby. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  23. "Leo Awards, Nominees by Name 2017". www.leoawards.com. 27 May 2017. Archived from the original on 5 May 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  24. "Beat Bugs | Best Animated Series | Canadian Screen Awards". Academy.ca. 30 December 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  25. Whitehead, Mat (23 April 2017). "Logies 2017: All The Award Winners". Huffington Post. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  26. "AWGIE Awards 2016: winners". TV Tonight. 14 October 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  27. "AACTA Awards 2016: winners". TV Tonight. 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 May 2017.
  28. "A Kid's Show Inspired By Beatles Tunes? Yes, Please! Here's the Only Way to Nab Beat Bugs Toys". A Bullseye View. Retrieved 6 July 2017.
  29. Unstead, Thomas (19 October 2018). "Netflix Sets November Premiere for Motown-Themed Children's Series". Multichannel News.
  30. Milligan, Mercedes (25 October 2018). "Music-Fueled Kids' Series 'Motown Magic' Grooves to Netflix". Animation Magazine.
  31. Leight, Elias (4 December 2018). "With 'Motown Magic', Netflix Brings Soul Music to a New Generation". Rolling Stone.
  32. Weeks, Isaac (9 November 2018). "Motown Reveals 'Motown Magic' Soundtrack Track List, Previews Becky G's 'For Once in My Life' (Exclusive)". Billboard.
  33. Lewis, Hilary (13 February 2019). "NAACP Image Awards: 'Black Panther' Tops Film Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 6 April 2019.
  34. Karp, Hannah (14 April 2016). "Amazon Developing TV Series From Bob Dylan Songs". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  35. ^ Otterson, Joe (21 August 2017). "Universal Music Group Partners With 'Beat Bugs' Producers for Three New Music-Based Series (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 21 August 2017.
  36. Shedden, Iain (23 July 2016). "Beatles revived for kids TV show Beat Bugs by Daniel Johns, Josh Wakely". The Australian.
  37. Yates, Rod (24 August 2016). "'Beat Bugs' Brings the Beatles' Music to Life". Rolling Stone Australia.
  38. "THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER Announces HBO On Cinema Conversations, NYFF Emerging Artists & NYFF Shorts Selections at the 2013 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL". Indiewood. 8 September 2013.
  39. Manning, James (19 July 2016). "Beat Bugs: How a young Aussie writer landed rights to 300+ Beatles songs". Mediaweek.

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