James leads business development and industry engagement at Perth Film Studios, spending his days talking to producers, practitioners, partners and agencies — and turning ambitious ideas into workable plans. He brings a line producer’s mindset and an exhaustive, practical understanding of how projects actually get made.
Alongside his industry development work, James is also a producer of multiple films, including the award-winning feature, The Surfer, starring Nicolas Cage, which helps explain his low tolerance for impractical thinking and theoretical conversations that don’t survive contact with reality. He knows the process because he’s lived it.
Straight-talking, collaborative and relentlessly focused on positive outcomes for the WA screen industry, James is big on relationships and allergic to fluff. Legend has it he might actually be the nicest man in the WA screen industry – though he would strongly prefer that this topic is avoided, along with questions about his exclusive devotion to checked shirts, or any time The Tiges have a bad weekend.
Directors’ Cut: James is a qualified cinema projectionist. Yes, the real kind. Yes, he will notice if it’s out of focus. And tell you.