Christian James

CJ is a versatile director whose infectious energy and vibrant style have recently been employed by Saatchi & Saatchi, VCCP, Indicia, Oath and Octagon.

After graduating Bournemouth Film School and working his way up the art departments for various big budget productions under the likes Joe Nemec III (Terminator 2, The Abyss) and Norman Garwood (Hook, Brazil) at Pinewood Studios, CJ simultaneously directed his first feature film – released Worldwide in 2013.

Whilst curating his debut feature, CJ worked as an in house director for various winter sports brands.  Most notably a go to filmmaker for Tui/First Choice and their graduate targeted snowboard/ski market.  Thanks to this and regular stints with the British Olympic Sailing team, CJ has built an impressive sports portfolio, collaborating with sporting legends such as Lionel Messi, Juergen Klopp & Sebastian Vettel.  He has handled content and sports broadcasts for Monster Energy, Ferrari and even dabbled in the E-sports World for League of Legends and Call of Duty – for which he won and IVCA gold.

The next big break came when Film4 invited him to guest direct for their 2015 suspense series. His entry, Night Feed starred Alice Lowe (Sightseers, Paddington) and David Oakes (Victoria, The Borgias) went on to become the highest rated film of the series and is now available on the All 4 platform & Britbox.

CJ has since had three comedy feature films released worldwide, winning the Melies D’Argent and nominated for the coveted Melies D’Or at Sitges International Film Festival. He is currently directing a TV pilot, adapted from a book by an Emmy winning writer.

The greatest talent CJ has garnered through his experience in feature films is working with all types of performers, be they BAFTA winning or Oscar nominated actors to fresh faced talent.  This has allowed him to quickly launch a successful parallel career in commercials, directing varied talent from sports stars or child actors taking their first steps into the field. 

He’s worked throughout every continent, for many diverse Global Brands including: MasterCard, EE, Kia, Volvo, Etihad, Warner Bros. Reebok, Cirque Du Soleil and Nike.

When he’s not hyping up a cast & crew from behind the camera, CJ can be found surfing the south coast of England with his family and 3 dogs.  The dogs don’t surf – But CJ’s wife is one of the UK’s leading surf coaches, so they’re working on it.