Robert James

How did I get here?

Midlife career change here. Needed a change....love movies.  Was making amateur films with a great little digital camcorder.  Had a toe in the entertainment world for a long time,...dabbled in DJ'ing.  At age 46 took 3 semesters at City College (San Francisco) in the Film Dept.  Learned that this was where I was supposed to be.  The Film World that is.  Fast forward to Dec 12, 2009.  After many emails which started with a Facebook communication in June '09....I meet Ondi Timoner.  She recognizes my desire to make works of art rather just work in an singular position.  AMAZING things happened immediately.  Mentor-ship in the most 'hit-the-ground-running' sort of way ensues.  This master award-winning doc director invites me with her to travel the world.  I attend my first Sundance Film Festival and Ondi is a juror.  She passes the torch to the Grand Jury prize winner as she earned the award the year before.  And I get to be there.  The destinations after that include -- Oaxaca Mexico, Chicago f(or a never before seen media event), Copenhagen (during the recent Icelandic volcano eruption) Munich (on Hitlers birthday), New Haven (Ondi's alma mater), NYC, DC, and a week at the Directors Lab at Sundance Institute in June 2010.  I got to shoot Ondi behind the scenes, in a new project being developed by her about Robert Mapplethorpe.  At one point I pitch the Library of Dust idea and we shake on making 'something' from this obscure story.  Ondi is taking me thru this process and it is thrilling.  I had the opportunity to work on her newest film showing at Festivals now and to be released in November called 'Cool It' about controversial climate change celeb-Bjorn Lomborg.  I got to help edit the DVD extras for Ondi's award-winning doc 'We Live in Public'.  And I even had the chance to travel to Tampa and shoot footage for an upcoming doc called 'Risk' about sunken treasure and the rights of the possessor.  All of this in less than a year.  The Gods are smiling.  Not without cost tho.  No time at home.  My partner calls himself a 'film widow'.  I feel torn but am still young enough to do some cinematic damage, so watch out!

About Me

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