- James Cotten
James Cotten (born on
February 12 ,1974 in Fort Smith,Arkansas ) [ [http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0974169/] - James Cotten, IMdB] is anactor and film director.Early life
Following his 8th grade year in Arkansas, his parents moved to
Sallisaw, Oklahoma where they owned a movie rental store. James, known as "Jay" or "JJ" to his friends, quickly became known as a novice movie director making films for classes in high school.After high school, James moved to North Carolina and tried his hand at
professional wrestling . After a year or training, James turned his eye on acting and directing. He had many stand in roles in movies such as "The Tuskegee Airmen " (1995), [ [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0114745/] - The Tuskegee Airmen, 1995 IMdB.] "How Stella Got Her Groove Back " (1998), [ [http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0120703/] - How Stella Got Her Groove Back, 1998 IMdB.] and on an episode of "Frasier ".Film career
While attending
The Los Angeles Film School in 2004, Cotten studied cinematography with many working professionals:Rex Metz ("SWAT ", "I Spy "),David Klein ("Chasing Amy ", "Clerks II "), and Michael Barrett ("CSI", "Bobby", "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang "). He studied Production Design withLawrence Paull ("Blade Runner ", "Escape from LA ", "Unlawful Entry ") and Direction with PaulVerhoven ("Robocop ", "Starship Troopers "),Donald Petrie ("How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days ", "Miss Congeniality"),Danielle Suissa ("Pocahontas ", "Neowolf "), andBrad Battersby ("Red Letters ", "Jesus the Driver "). [ [http://www.lafilm.com/news/7247-filmmaking-is-sweet-for-james-cotten.html] - "Film making is sweet for James Cotten", The Los Angeles Film School]Shortly after graduating from the L.A. Film School, Cotten directed a
Roger Corman film called "Demon Slayer ". With that experience, Cotten worked on other movies and set out to make his own movies. [ [http://www.sequoyahcountytimes.com/articles/2006/08/18/news/front5.txt] - "Sallisaw's James 'Jay' Cotten Achieves His Movie-making Dream", "Sequoyah County Times", 18 August 2006] The movie was released direct to DVD in 2003. [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0315465/] - Demon Slayer, IMdB.] It currently appears on the Sci-Fi Channel.After completion of "Demon Slayer", James returned to
Van Buren, Arkansas and formed Dark Highway Films, an independent film company that produced its first direct to video release in 2007. "Sugar Creek" is a low budget film that is part fairy tale/morality tale and part horror/Western. The story of Adam, as he is hunted by a mysterious Horseman through a valley where men do hateful things because they've had hateful things done to them, is the story of revenge and redemption, and the irony in between. [ [http://www.sugarcreekthemovie.com/media.html] - www.sugarcreekthemovie.com] "Sugar Creek" was nominated at the Bare Bones International Film Festival for Best Drama/Thriller. Its direct to DVD release was on July 24, 2007. During the initial stages of "Sugar Creek", James also had an acting role oppositeAshley Judd in "Come Early Morning ", playing an angry past lover.Notes
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