James McNamara(V)
- Writer
- Producer
James is creator/head writer and Executive Producer of The Artful Dodger (Disney+). He began his film and television career as a script analyst at Icon Film Distribution, where he reported directly to the Head of Acquisitions and Development, and advised on the artistic and commercial potential of feature film scripts for pre-buy acquisitions. For many years, he has run a number of writers rooms and has held a faculty position lecturing in film and television at one of the top public universities in the USA where he has regularly worked alongside some of the nation's most prolific and decorated showrunners. More recently James has been creating projects for television on international television dramas.
James is an award-winning literary and television critic - something he draws on in script analysis and editing. James's 8,000-word feature article on the HBO era, "The Golden Age of Television", was the cover article of the Australian Book Review (Australia's premier literary journal). James won the coveted ABR Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship for this piece - one of Australia's major awards for cultural criticism. James's critical work has also appeared in international publications, including the New York Times, LA Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, and The Australian. James's critical ability was honed at Oxford, where he held a Clarendon Scholarship in English - the university's award for "the elite academic candidates of their generation".
James received his PhD from Oxford for a topic spanning seventeenth- through nineteenth-century literature and drama, a qualification evidencing world-class training as an editor, critic, and analyst of literary and dramatic texts.
Before achieving his goal of working in film and television, James was a corporate litigation lawyer specializing in international disputes for one of the world's largest law firms. When James's team left the firm during the global financial crisis, he elected to remain as the only corporate litigation lawyer in the London office for over a year. Reporting directly to the Global Head of International Arbitration in New York, James experienced an exceptional level and tempo work.
In addition to his PhD from Oxford University, James holds degrees in English and Law from the University of Western Australia and in screenwriting from the Australian Film Television & Radio School. James's long-term career goal is to bring his creative abilities as a screenwriter together with his critical and corporate experience to work as a show runner in US television drama. James has been selected twice for the BAFTA Newcomers program in LA and has been on the Board of the ABR (Australian Book Review).
James is an award-winning literary and television critic - something he draws on in script analysis and editing. James's 8,000-word feature article on the HBO era, "The Golden Age of Television", was the cover article of the Australian Book Review (Australia's premier literary journal). James won the coveted ABR Ian Potter Foundation Fellowship for this piece - one of Australia's major awards for cultural criticism. James's critical work has also appeared in international publications, including the New York Times, LA Review of Books, Times Literary Supplement, The Spectator, and The Australian. James's critical ability was honed at Oxford, where he held a Clarendon Scholarship in English - the university's award for "the elite academic candidates of their generation".
James received his PhD from Oxford for a topic spanning seventeenth- through nineteenth-century literature and drama, a qualification evidencing world-class training as an editor, critic, and analyst of literary and dramatic texts.
Before achieving his goal of working in film and television, James was a corporate litigation lawyer specializing in international disputes for one of the world's largest law firms. When James's team left the firm during the global financial crisis, he elected to remain as the only corporate litigation lawyer in the London office for over a year. Reporting directly to the Global Head of International Arbitration in New York, James experienced an exceptional level and tempo work.
In addition to his PhD from Oxford University, James holds degrees in English and Law from the University of Western Australia and in screenwriting from the Australian Film Television & Radio School. James's long-term career goal is to bring his creative abilities as a screenwriter together with his critical and corporate experience to work as a show runner in US television drama. James has been selected twice for the BAFTA Newcomers program in LA and has been on the Board of the ABR (Australian Book Review).
