J. Michael James(1971-2009)
- Editor
- Writer
- Cinematographer
Born in the small town of Ocala, Florida, Michael began writing at age
8. His influence at the time included The Twilight Zone, Outer Limits
and the films of Boris Karloff. His mother was a painter who worked in
ceramics and his father built and drove drag racing cars in the late
1960s and early 1970s.
Attending Vanguard High school, he met the creative talents that would encourage what adults termed "weird behavior." Among those friends included musician Dave Trousdale, comic artist Laura DePuy, writers Jamaryl Curly and Tracy Favors, videographer Michael Daly.
His own stories and poetry at the time were labeled surrealistic, with influences including Dali, Lovecraft, Barker, Kubrick and Monty Python. He made several zero budget VHS-based movies between 1984 and 1989, allowing him to experiment without anyone looking over his shoulder or demanding immediate results.
After graduation he moved to Fort Lauderdale where he then worked in radio as an announcer and talk producer for WFTL from 1989 through 1993, where he met cult film legend Herschell Gordon Lewis. He worked briefly with IBM research and development in 1993. Afterwards he went into the financial services industry to design training videos and write software.
In 2000 he returned to South Florida to become the managing editor of The Express news, a respected and progressive weekly newspaper. He soon met Jarrod Canepa and the two began developing a short stop-motion film. During the pre-production process, Michael crunched the numbers and discovered for the cost of producing the short, they could produce a feature film. In June 2002, they began shooting Hunting for Herschell (2003).
James is currently the president of Field of Vision Media Group, which develops and produces monthly television programs for small cities and select areas. He is now developing audio dramas, as well as several other film projects, which will be produced in South Florida.
Attending Vanguard High school, he met the creative talents that would encourage what adults termed "weird behavior." Among those friends included musician Dave Trousdale, comic artist Laura DePuy, writers Jamaryl Curly and Tracy Favors, videographer Michael Daly.
His own stories and poetry at the time were labeled surrealistic, with influences including Dali, Lovecraft, Barker, Kubrick and Monty Python. He made several zero budget VHS-based movies between 1984 and 1989, allowing him to experiment without anyone looking over his shoulder or demanding immediate results.
After graduation he moved to Fort Lauderdale where he then worked in radio as an announcer and talk producer for WFTL from 1989 through 1993, where he met cult film legend Herschell Gordon Lewis. He worked briefly with IBM research and development in 1993. Afterwards he went into the financial services industry to design training videos and write software.
In 2000 he returned to South Florida to become the managing editor of The Express news, a respected and progressive weekly newspaper. He soon met Jarrod Canepa and the two began developing a short stop-motion film. During the pre-production process, Michael crunched the numbers and discovered for the cost of producing the short, they could produce a feature film. In June 2002, they began shooting Hunting for Herschell (2003).
James is currently the president of Field of Vision Media Group, which develops and produces monthly television programs for small cities and select areas. He is now developing audio dramas, as well as several other film projects, which will be produced in South Florida.