CJ Wallis
CJ Wallis is a Canadian director from Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2011, Wallis was named President of Jet Life Films, record label for Atlantic Records recording artist Curren$y creating all music videos, marketing & design work. His music video & design work includes artists Curren$y, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Ty Dolla Sign, Fiend, Cornerboy P, Rykka, The Scarlet Ending, Hayley Richman, Fake Shark - Real Zombie!. In 2016, Wallis completed his debut feature film BB and is in development on the follow-up feature Umerica.
Early life
- Wallis was born on February 23, 1981 to Chuck & Maggie Wallis.
- After 15 years as a hockey goaltender at junior & national ranks, Wallis left to pursue a career in film.
1990s
- Based on some writing samples, Wallis received an interview in New York City for Late Night with Conan O'Brien.
- Co-Founded an online resource for Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson called "Cigarettes & Coffee" (which was re-branded as "Cigarettes & Red Vines")
- Worked as a director's assistant helping to execute every step of a million dollar feature for four years alongside filmmaker Scott Smith on his award-winning picture Rollercoaster
2000s
Circumference (2006)
- Selected from over 80 pitches to win a slot on the prestigious Canadian film contest Crazy 8s with challenges selected film-makers to create a short film entirely within 8 days, with a total budget of $800 and with a raw-footage restriction of 30 minutes total. The result is a 10-minute single shot film called Circumference,[1] which involves many characters, location changes and times of year that all end up back at the same place it started. Wallis became the first filmmaker in the contest's eight-year history to complete and submit a short film and music video within the rules of the contest.
969 MTV/Razer (2006-2007)
- 969 was an hour long, Monday to Friday youth programming show on MTV
- Started as a junior producer responsible for 1 segment a week and within 3 months was directing the show and producing 3 segments a week.
- In 2007, the show won the Leo Award for Best Youth Programming.
Dead Hooker In A Trunk (2007-2010)
- Wallis was cast as Goody Two-Shoes in the Soska sister's film Dead Hooker in a Trunk and ended up additionally executing the majority of tasks on the production including camera operation, lighting, music & completing all post production and marketing for the film. Over two years, the film attracted the attention of top Hollywood talent and went on to win many festival and film-making awards and was ultimately purchased & distributed by IFC Films.
Last Flowers (2009)
- The William Morris Agency met with Wallis to discuss upcoming projects. Within a month of this meeting, Wallis was on the set of his second short film Last Flowers which starred frequent collaborator Joseph May and Sarah Slean. The short screened in festivals across the world and was nominated by the Leo Awards in the "Best Screenplay in a Short Drama" and "Best Actor in a Lead Role" categories.
2010s
American Mary (2009-2011)
- Produced, developed & marketed the film for two years in collaboration with the Soska sisters up until the two companies parted ways shortly before principal photography.
- The film features FortyFPS regulars Clay St Thomas, David Lovgren & Paula Lindberg.
Nokia (2010)
- Nokia had Wallis create two projects shot completely with their cel-phones. The first was a one-minute short featuring Connor Stanhope shot on a Nokia N-8 cel-phone. Based off the success of the previous ad, Nokia sent Wallis to Miami to shoot the Transformers 3 premiere with Michael Bay and Tyrese using a C-7 model phone.
Jet Life Recordings (2011-Current)
- Jet Life manager Mousa Hamdan invited Wallis down to Los Angeles to film a Curren$y concert "Rock The Bells", after the show ended Curren$y broke his ankle a month before a 60-day tour featuring Method Man & Big K.R.I.T..
- The edit from the day "Trust Fall" featured marked the invention of embedding tweets-as-narrative and was radically different than previous vlog clips produced for the label. Shortly after, Wallis was named "President Of Jet Life Films" and invited onto The Smoker's Club tour.
- Wallis is responsible for most of the video, design & marketing for the label.
- Directed over 50+ music videos and 14 hours of film-quality documentary footage chronicling the day-to-day life of Curren$y & The Jets, most notably the JetFlix series which debuted on Pitchfork.[2]
BB (2014-2016)
- During limited off-time, Wallis wrote and produced the self-financed thriller "BB" which the film-maker intentionally selected first-time actors and performed the majority of the film's tasks himself.
- The film follows a hard-edged girl named Leah Lamont, played by Jennifer Mae, turns to the world of web-cam modelling to help her girlfriend get money for a plane ticket to Romania to see her ailing family while an obsessed fan named Hal Bowman, played by Kristian Hanson, is planning a surprise of his own.
Revolver (2015-2016)
- Curren$y recorded five records in one night over music produced by Wiz Khalifa producer Sledgren. Wallis wrote and produced an original short film which uses the music and the lyrics to craft an original crime film showing the darker side of New Orleans street life. The film is narrated by Fiend and features Cornerboy P, DJ Duffey, Mr Marcelo, Mousa Hamdan, TY, Young Juve and Lil Soulja Slim in co-starring roles.
Umerica (2016-Current)
- The second feature film is a political satire which has been described as a "nuclear comedy about losing a bomb."
Career
Film
| Year |
Title |
Type |
Role |
Featuring |
| 2017 |
Umerica |
Feature |
Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Producer, Editor, Mix, Marketing |
TBA |
| 2016 |
BB |
Feature |
Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Producer, Editor, Mix, Marketing |
Jennifer Mae, Kristian Hanson, Victoria Fox |
| 2016 |
Revolver |
Short |
Writer, Director, Camera Operator, Producer, Editor, Mix, Marketing |
Curren$y & Sledgren |
| 2009 |
Last Flowers |
Short |
Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, Marketing |
Joseph May, Sarah Slean |
| 2006 |
Circumference |
Short |
Writer, Director, Producer, Editor, Marketing |
William MacDonald, Joseph May |
|
Television
Music Videos
Collaborations
| Year |
Title |
Type |
Role |
Featuring |
| 2009-2011 |
American Mary [10] |
Feature |
Producer (uncredited), Marketing & Development. |
Katharine Isabelle |
| 2007-2010 |
Dead Hooker in a Trunk [11] |
Feature |
Lead actor, Editor, Camera Operation, All Post-Production, Score |
Jen Soska, Sylvia Soska, Rikki Gagne, CJ Wallis |
|
Awards & Nominations
- 2016 - "Best Director Of The Year" - NOLA Hip Hop Awards (Nominated, CJ Wallis)
- 2015 - "Best Director Of The Year" - NOLA Hip Hop Awards (Nominated, CJ Wallis)
- 2015 - "Best Video Of The Year" - NOLA Hip Hop Awards (Nominated, "Round My Way" - T.Y.)
- 2011 - "Best Music Video Of The Year" - Leo Awards (WINNER, "The Rose" - Sarah Slean) [12]
- 2009 - "Best Screenwriting in Short Drama" - Leo Awards (Nominated, Last Flowers)
- 2006 - "Best Youth or Children's Program or Series" - Leo Awards (WINNER, "969") [13]
References
External links
