In addition to numerous film festival grand jury prizes, James’ work has earned distinctions such as the Webby, the Telly, the Geekie, the Accolade, and the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant. He was named “Best Director” and “Best Screenwriter” by New York Visionfest for Yesterday Was a Lie, his feature film debut from Entertainment One and IndiePix starring Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson, and Peter Mayhew. For four years, James co-wrote and directed numerous episodes of the popular webseries Star Trek Continues — which guest-starred Doctor Who’s Colin Baker and Nicola Bryant. James and Nicola subsequently hosted the podcast In Isolation, which ran throughout the summer of 2020. His next project is the reality-bending mystery feature Contre-Coup, currently in development.

James’ live stage credits range from classical to modern. He was listed among the Los Angeles Times’ “Faces to Watch” as part of the Lone Star Ensemble theatre group, and has frequently directed for Daniel Henning and Noah Wyle’s Blank Theatre Company. James’ directing has been honored by critic Paul Birchall for two consecutive years in Back Stage Magazine’s “Best of the Year” list. His work has been cited by scholarly organizations and journals such as the Shakespeare Association of America and Shakespeare Newsletter.

James recently directed the short mystery When the Train Stops starring Michael Forest, John de Lancie, and Rekha Sharma. He’s lectured on filmmaking and the science of film perception in venues as diverse as SMPTE, NPR, the University of Arizona’s Center for Consciousness Studies, San Diego Comic-Con, TCU, the University of Texas at Austin, and Space Camp.

James is a member of Mensa and Phi Beta Kappa, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.