About Damn Fool Productions
Origin
Damn Fool Productions takes its name from a phrase leveled by Wade’s grandmother at him and his siblings whenever they got out of line. But like other inherited expectations, he flipped it.
Damn Fools are those willing to go against the grain.
Those who speak up when it would be easier to stay quiet.
Those who challenge comfortable conclusions that constrain us.
Those foolish enough to believe that we can actually make a difference in this world. Because we can.
Mission
To promote gender equality and encourage healthier, more life-affirming expressions of masculinity through production and dissemination of media, materials and methodologies that challenge the status quo.
What This Work Is About
This platform is founded on one core idea:
There must be a better way.
Dysfunctional forms of masculinity have left men and women in pain. Masculinity is not fixed in the past—it is shaped by culture, reinforced by systems, and capable of change.
Through storytelling and reflection, Damn Fool Productions explores:
How men are socialized
How those patterns show up in real life
What it looks like to take responsibility and engage differently
How to expand the Three Ps of traditional masculinity: provision, protection, and procreation to something more effective and meaningful than we’ve been offered
About Wade
Wade Channell is the founder of Damn Fool Productions and an independent consultant specializing in gender, masculinity, and legal reform.
He spent over 30 years working with or for USAID on barriers to healthy economic growth, and retired in 2021 as the Senior Economic Growth Advisor for Gender.
Since 2021, his work has focused on storytelling—using film, writing, and media to explore how masculinity is experienced, understood, and changing.
Growing up the Deep South during the Civil Rights era, he notes that his own cultural roots included nationalism, racism, misogyny and sexism, as well as homophobia and elitism. It’s been a long road to the other sides of those divides and today his approach is grounded in the recognition that these issues are deeply personal, cultural, and often complex.
More importantly, Wade knows that change is possible, especially if enough damn fools can work together to make it happen.
Positioning
This work is not about quick conclusions or simplified narratives.
It’s about engaging with difficult questions, acknowledging nuance, and creating space for more honest conversations.