About James

James wrote and directed his first play at the age of eight, involving all the children in the area. Subsequently, he wrote and directed plays throughout his school days, including an amateur horror film on 8mm, The Mark of Satan.

He also directed his dear friend Ashley Herman (now a West End producer) in the one-man play Brief Lives to great acclaim.

He then went to work at Pinewood Studios on many feature films including the Bond film Diamonds Are Forever.

Thereafter, James studied for two years at the post-graduate filmmaking course at the London College of Communication (one of the few film schools at the time) where he wrote and directed several films including Zigger-Zagger, based on the Peter Terson play, for which he won an award.

After directing commercials, documentaries and fashion shows, James switched to theatre and directed many fringe plays in the West End while working as Michael Crawford’s personal assistant and make-up artist at several West End theatres including Drury Lane.

James was commissioned to write several feature films both in Europe and Hollywood such as The Mark of Satan, Escape from El Diablo, Soweto, Waterloo Too, Rock Edge, Rock the Boat and The Legend of Sawney Beane. He wrote and directed the feature film Olympus Force starring Christopher Lee, Joss Ackland, Linda Thorson, Richard Todd and Linda Lusardi.

Shows in the West End that he has written include Prisoner Cell Block H starring Lily Savage (Paul O’Grady), Stand By Me starring Grace Kennedy and Troubadour starring Kim Braden which he also directed at the Cambridge Theatre.

On television, James wrote and directed To Be Perfectly Frank starring Michael Crawford.

Semi-professional theatre productions James has directed include The Witches of Eastwick, Titanic – The Musical on the 100th anniversary of the disaster, Parade, Mame, Calamity Jane and his hilarious and unique production of HMS Pinafore for ELOC; Kiss Me Kate and Kinky Boots for BANOS, Calamity Jane again for the Lyric Players and Little Shops of Horrors for WAOS. He directed Sweet Charity, Jekyll & Hyde the Musical, The Wedding Singer musical and the pantomimes Sleeping Beauty, Dick Whittington and His Cat and Robinson Crusoe for Molesey Musical Theatre and highly acclaimed productions of  Jesus Christ Superstar and Sister Act for the Epsom Light Opera Company.

Four of these won the coveted NODA Award for Excellence, the amateur Oscars. He also won two additional NODAs for his version of Sweeney Todd for WAOS – the Award for Excellence and the Haslemere Trophy for Technical Excellence.

Currently, James is directing his beloved Molesey Musical Theatre company in their new 2026 production, Return to the Forbidden Planet.

In other news, James is currently writing his first novel.

James is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle with Gold Star, one of only 300 in the world, and is a four-time Surrey Magic Champion. James is a professional performer and a magical consultant to the entertainment industry.

If you are interested in James’s magical entertainment, click here for full details.