David L. Wadley is an award-winning author, accredited investor, independent filmmaker, and cultural thinker whose work explores the intersection of artificial intelligence, economics, and African American empowerment. Through fiction and nonfiction, Wadley examines how emerging technologies reshape democracy, wealth, identity, and opportunity in the modern world.
Wadley is the creator of The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy, comprising The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Passport Bro, and Bulls, Bears, and Bad Bitches. Featuring contemporary Black protagonists, the trilogy blends artificial intelligence, finance, government, political intrigue, relationships, and Afrofuturist storytelling to explore economic power, social change, and Black empowerment in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. The three novels were developed as commercially driven intellectual property for film and television adaptation.
The AI Revolution: African American Trilogy swept the 2026 International Firebird Book Awards in African American Fiction, winning 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. This achievement established all three novels as recognized works within the same literary category.
The trilogy also earned consecutive recognition in the Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Contest. The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised was named a 2025 Readers’ Favorite Finalist — Fiction: Urban, while Bulls, Bears, and Bad Bitches won the 2026 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Bronze Medal — Fiction: Urban. Readers’ Favorite described Wadley's back-to-back recognition in the same category with two different novels as “exceedingly rare,” calling the results “extraordinary.”
The AI Revolution Will Not Be Televised also received the 2025 Literary Titan Gold Book Award on April 4, 2025—the 57th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. The timing carries particular significance because the novel explores economic justice, racial inequality, and Black empowerment, reflecting themes central to Dr. King's Poor People's Campaign.
Wadley's literary recognition extends beyond the trilogy. He is the author of AI Stocks Made Simple: A Beginner’s Guide to AI Investing and Online Trading, a practical introduction to artificial intelligence, stock markets, and long-term investing. The book won 2nd place in Business at the 2026 International Firebird Book Awards. His Afrofuturist political thriller, Kamala 2028, explores AI-driven misinformation, elections, and Black women's political leadership and earned 4th place in Thriller at the 2026 International Firebird Book Awards.
Wadley is a Lifetime Member of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association (BCALA), an organization dedicated to advancing African American literature, improving library services and resources for African American communities, and supporting the professional development of African American librarians. His lifetime membership reflects a commitment to expanding the visibility, accessibility, and representation of African American voices in literature.
Film and television adaptation rights to Wadley's published intellectual property are represented by RAMO Law, an entertainment law firm with offices in Los Angeles and New York.
Wadley is the founder of The Price Bandit LLC, a media and education platform with a YouTube channel dedicated to artificial intelligence, investing literacy, and future-focused storytelling. He also created Stock Soul, an original educational concept blending classic R&B music with financial literacy lessons to make investing concepts more accessible.
He completed the Applied Value Investing Certificate Program through Wharton Online, deepening his expertise in long-term, value-based investing and financial education.
As an independent filmmaker, Wadley wrote, produced, and directed Dark Angels (1998), now streaming. His film career began on productions directed or produced by Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Robert De Niro, and Mario Van Peebles. He later built a career in Hollywood postproduction, working with Warner Bros., Sony Pictures, MGM, Panavision, and Technicolor. He served as Supervising Sound Editor on Soul Plane (2004) and is a member of the Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700).
Before transitioning into media and writing, Wadley served as a firefighter, spent more than two decades as an Immigration Services Officer with U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, and held positions as an Individual Taxpayer Advisory Specialist with the Internal Revenue Service and a Military Pay Technician with the U.S. Department of Defense. These experiences reflect a sustained commitment to public service, discipline, and civic responsibility.
Wadley's creative mission is to develop enduring, commercially compelling Black-led stories and entertainment franchises for global audiences, combining cinematic storytelling with contemporary issues of technology, financial power, and social change.
