James was born and raised in Northern California, the son of a dentist and a school teacher. He caught the film bug early making short films in the backyard and on family trips. After studying his passion at Chapman University, he wrote and directed the short film, Grey Matter based on a short story by Stephen King. That film continues to be screened regularly at horror-themed festivals and has garnered four festival competition awards to date (including Vail Film Festival's Best Student Film 2013). James is developing projects for film, television, and other media with his producing partner, Baruch Kaufman and their production company, Nighthawks Entertainment.