Independent Filmmaker Strives to Empower Others
By Daniel C. Cameron
Assistant Publisher
THE TOMMY WALLACE EXPRESSION: Tommy Wallace is a local independent film-maker. Above left is Wallace, on right is Christopher Rowe of Owasso-based VCI Entertainment.
Photo by Daniel C. Cameron
Tommy Wallace is a Tulsan. He lives on the south side, makes movies, is an acting instructor and a self-esteem coach. He is an extraordinary, heart-felt man, who uses his films to show the grit life can pose on some of us. Wallace uses this tactic in his work to inspire people.
After seeing a few of his short films, it is apparent that Wallace wants to show that we all have hard times at different points in our lives and that these hard times pass and when we learn from them, we make the world a better place.
Wallace also uses his films to help people directly with their hard times. One of his films is an attempt to help resolve the murder of Tulsan Brittany Phillips. Wallace worked directly with Phillips’ mother Maggie in the production with Maggie even playing the role of herself. Tulsa’s did a full story about the Brittany Phillips film. A link to the story is below.
Wallace elaborates that his filmmaking is more than just short films. He does “freelance video and editing work.” He will help other videographers with their projects, but he also enjoys doing commercial videos and documentaries that feature businesses. It is a unique and effective way to market companies. The videos can be placed on the company’s website as well as put on to be mailed to potential clients.
Wallace’s inspiration comes from strife in his own life. He has had an uncle murdered. That is why he felt compelled to get in touch with Maggie Phillips and help her.
Yet, the heaviest driving force Wallace encountered was finding out that the man he thought was his father all of his life, was his cousin. This caused constant stress. He could not get a straight answer from his mother regarding his father. He spent seven years reeling.
One day working, Johnnie Ball, also known as “Big Daddy” of Big Daddy’s , came through his line. Wallace recognized Ball. They were known to be cousins and they began to create a friendship.
It was about this time that Wallace had put a film in a Entertainment independent film contest and won Honorable Mention. The GTR’s David Jones did a feature on Wallace in 2006 about the film and the contest. See below for the link.
This film is called, “Live or Die, Your Choice” and is a film about a young man, whose father left him in his teen years. The young man is fraught with challenges, including pressures of gangdom.
After some time, Wallace showed Ball the film. That’s when it hit Ball that he was Wallace’s father. Wallace learned he was the oldest of five. “I inherited two brothers and two sisters,” says Wallace.
The film had a profound impact for Wallace. The development of the film helped him work through his own strife while eventually helping to find his lost father. “This project gave the fatherless boy a father,” claims Wallace. “I felt like the boy in this film was me all my life.”
Wallace is actively creating films and instructing actors in Tulsa. He continues to focus his work on helping others, living the mantra that “the greatest thing you can do is to get people to empower themselves.”
Click here for a feature on Wallace’s Contest Success from 2006.
Click Here for the feature on Wallace and the Brittany Phillips film.
Updated 08-27-2010
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