James Cotten

Biography

Born: February 12, 1974 (1974-02-12) Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States Film career: James first studied film making at the London International Film School, in London, England. There, he made his first short film, Lifeless. He finished film school at The Los Angeles Film School in 2002. 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 with Lawrence Paull (Blade Runner, Escape from LA, Unlawful Entry) and Direction with Paul Verhoven (Robocop, Starship Troopers), Donald Petrie (How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Miss Congeniality), Danielle Suissa (Pocahontas, Neowolf), and Brad Battersby (Red Letters, Jesus the Driver). 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.[4] The movie was released direct to DVD in 2003. 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. Sugar Creek was nominated at the Bare Bones International Film Festival for Best Drama/Thriller, and best in state at the Little Rock Film Festival. Its direct to DVD release was on July 24, 2007. While funds were raised for Sugar Creek, James was cast in an acting role opposite Ashley Judd in Joey Lauren Adams' Come Early Morning, playing an past one night stand named Steve. In 2008, James directed the film La Linea (The Line). The story centers around veteran assassin Mark Shields (Ray Liotta) as he tracks down, Pelon (Esai Morales), the elusive head of the Salazar Crime Cartel. Through twists of fate, Shields ends up with a local woman, Olivia (Valerie Cruz) who is also fighting her own demons for the sake of her daughter. Set in the rich and atmospheric backdrop of Tijuana, Mexico, La Linea (The Line) is full of action, drama and finds its soul in the plight of the characters that inhabit the most dangerous city in North America. The film also stars Andy Garcia as the dying Godfather of the cartel, Salazar. La Linea premiered at the American Film Market in 2008, where it was touted by the Hollywood Reporter as one of six films to watch. The film had limited theatrical release in July of 2009, as part of a Latino Film Series sponsored by Blockbuster, followed by a Blockbuster exclusive release at the end of August. Regie: 2003 - Demon Slayer 2007 - Sugar Creek 2008 - La Linea