James has a wide range of documentary experience which includes producing with Violet Pictures (Beyond Biba, Private View), programming (Folkestone Doc Club, Folkestone Harbour Screen), film education (Screen South, South East Creatives, Kent Film Foundation) and cinema distribution (Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project, Hoop Dreams). He is currently the co-director and co-founder of the Folkestone Documentary Festival and a programmer for the St Kilda Film Festival in Melbourne.