James Cotten Director

James Cotten

Director

While obtaining his degree in mass communications, James worked in local television in Ft. Smith, Arkansas, his home town. Then HBO entered, filming their movie Tuskeegee Airmen. James was cast as a bomber pilot and “got the bug.” He studied and taught acting for five years before truly realizing how much he enjoyed the entire process of storytelling.

To fully understand his craft, James traveled to England, where he attended The London International Film School. The school had produced one of his favorite filmmakers, Michael Mann (Miami Vice, Heat, Collateral). There he studied production design with Gavin Bouqet (Star Wars Prequels). During his time overseas, James wrote and directed his first short, Lifeless.

James returned to the states, and after some consideration, finished his schooling at The Los Angeles Film School. There he studied with many working professionals, such a Cinematography with Rex Metz (Jaws, SWAT, I Spy), David Klein (Chasing Amy, Clerks II) and Michael Barrett (CSI, Bobby, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang); Production Design with Lawrence Paull (Blade Runner, Escape from LA, Unlawful Entry), and Directing with Paul Verhoven (Robocop, Starship Troopers), Donald Petrie (How to lose a guy in 10 days, Miss Congeniality), Danielle Suissa (Pocahontas, Neowolf), Brad Battersby (Red Letters, Jesus the Driver).

This wealth of knowledge prepared James for the chance of a lifetime when Roger Corman entered the doors, looking to use alumni in a co-production with the school. James was selected to direct.

With only an $80,000 budget, it was important to secure as many favors as possible. James enlisted Panavision and received free HD cameras which had only been used by George Lucas at that time. He also enlisted the computer animation school, Gnoman, to make a class centered around the film. James was praised by press and the industry for bringing Corman into new technologies, and produced a film the looked much better than its budget.

Demon Slayer has been in international distribution since 2002 and can still be seen occasionally on the Sci-Fi Network.

While James prepared for his next project he has learned many facets of the business. He has worked at Regent Entertainment in both legal and distribution, as well as a script reader for development. He was in post management for HomeRun Entertainment. He has also worked as a casting director for Joey Lauren Adam’s Come Early Morning, where he can be seen acting alongside Ashley Judd.

James returned home, where he spent a year and a half raising funds to accomplish his ultimate goal of producing a film that he had control of, a film he believed in.

Sugar Creek is a western fairytale, a sleepy hollow story set in rural Arkansas 30 years after the Civil War. The screenplay was recongnized at Sundance. Once again, James was able to turn very little into a lot. With the help of Arkansas re-in actors bringing Civil War memorabilia and costumes, donated goods and services, and friends’ sweat, he was able to make the film for $300,000.

The film was nominated for Best Film at both the Bare Bones and Little Rock Film Festivals, and released by Quantum Entertainment. It was released in July of 2006.

James went on to direct his first larger budget film, La Linea, starring Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, Bruce Davison, Esai Morales, and Danny Trejo, along with many others. It is the story of an assassin, played by Liotta, travelling into Tijauna, Mexico to take down a drug cartel. La Linea was released in 2009.