James Walker (writer/filmmaker)

James Walker (born 19 June 1979) is a British writer and filmmaker. He lives in London and studied at Radley College and Trinity College, Cambridge University where he read English and received a 1st Class Honors Degree. He is a director of Magma Pictures[1] and the Young Film Academy.[2] His first feature film, Blooded, had a UK cinema release on 1 April 2011 and was released on the UK DVD market.[3] Blooded caused a great deal of controversy at the time of the film's release, promotional viral videos were removed from video-sharing websites following action by animal rights protesters.[4]

Directing credits

Into Swans
(Short film: 15 mins, 16mm) Drama (2004).

One Small Leap
(Short film: 3 mins, 16mm) Comedy (2002).[5]

Taboo
(Short film: 30 mins, BetaSP) Thriller (1998).[6]

Gemini
(Theatre) Produced ADC Theatre, Cambridge (2000).

On the Breast of a Woman
(Theatre) Produced ADC Theatre, Cambridge (2001).[7]

Writing credits

Blooded
(Feature film) Thriller (2011).[8]

Proving Mr Jennings
(Theatre) Winner, King's Cross New Writing Award (2004).[9]

Into Swans
(Short film) Drama (2003).

One Small Leap
(Short film) Comedy (2002).[5]

On The Breast of a Woman
(Theatre) Drama. Produced Queens’ Theatre, Cambridge (2001).[7]

Born to be Wild
(Theatre) Produced C Venues, Edinburgh Festival (2000).
[10] Broadcast on BBC World Service, December (2000).[10]

Gemini
(Theatre) Produced ADC Theatre, Cambridge (2000).

Awards

Film

Winner, Best UK Short, Raindance 2003.

Winner, Cocotte-Minute Prix, Brest European Short Film Festival 2003.[11]

HTV Award, Brief Encounters 2002.[12]

Best Director, Capalbio International Film Festival 2003.[11]

F.I.C.E Award, Capalbio International Film Festival 2003.

Runner-up, Aprille Award, Milan Film Festival 2002.

Theater

Winner, King’s Cross New Writing Award, 2004.[13]

Nominated for London Writers Award, 2002.

Winner, BATS New Writing Award, 2000.

Selected to participate in the Berlinale Talent Campus, 2003.[14]

Blooded critical response

The film's topic has provoked reactions from parties on both side of the hunting debate in the UK.[15] In promoting the film, its makers originally asserted that it was a re-creation of an actual event that occurred after the enactment of the 2005 hunting ban in England,[16] maintaining that the film, rather than trying to make any political points, only investigates "the nature of extremism" in any form,[17] and "encourages debate".[18] The Evening Standard wrote that the film "caused outrage after graphic scenes showing activists attacking five deer-stalkers were posted on the internet, in a viral publicity campaign."[18] The Independent noted the film's controversial stance, and that as the film's asserted protagonists were a group of extreme animal activists, it generated "much chatter on the interweb" after clips appeared on Youtube. They wrote however, "it all has the whiff of a clever publicity stunt".[16] This is a stance echoed in many other online reviews with suggestions that it is a mockumentary that leaves the viewer with [sic] "no doubt that it is fabricated".[15] The List classed it as an example of a "fantastic piece of filmmaking that shows what is achievable if you get creative within your budget".[19]

References

  1. ^ "Blooded". Archived from the original on 27 May 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2020.
  2. ^ "Home". Young Film Academy.
  3. ^ "Celebrating UK Film". Archived from the original on 5 October 2020. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  4. ^ Moore-Bridger, Benedict; Widdup, Ellen; Parsons, Rob (22 March 2011). "Oh deer... heiress tells of 'harrowing' film role as the quarry of hunt extremists". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 26 March 2011.
  5. ^ a b "One Small Leap". 20 November 2002 – via IMDb.
  6. ^ "Taboo". 28 June 1997 – via IMDb.
  7. ^ a b "Brenda Cottis". www.bawds.org. Archived from the original on 29 January 2003.
  8. ^ "Blooded". 18 March 2011 – via IMDb.
  9. ^ "The Stage review of Proving Mr. Jennings".
  10. ^ a b "Foreign Shorts 2003". cinemainvisibile.it. Archived from the original on 4 February 2011.
  11. ^ a b "One Small Leap - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  12. ^ "Hunting the hunters". Archived from the original on 14 April 2011. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  13. ^ "James Walker wins Courtyard prize for new writing - The Courtyard". www.thecourtyard.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 March 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  14. ^ "Berlinale Talent Campus". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  15. ^ a b "The Week UK: The Latest News, Opinion, Sport, People & Business". The Week UK.
  16. ^ a b "Matthew Bell: The IoS Diary". 6 March 2011. Archived from the original on 20 December 2013. Retrieved 25 November 2023.
  17. ^ "Grass Roots – Blooded | Blog | littlewhitelies.co.uk". Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 25 March 2011.
  18. ^ a b "Oh deer... Heiress tells of 'harrowing' film role as the quarry of hunt extremists | News". Archived from the original on 26 March 2011. Retrieved 24 March 2011.
  19. ^ "DVD: Phenomena, The Beyond, Senseless, Blooded, Skyline, Primal, Island of Death". The List. 24 March 2011.