James Treakle-Smith

As a kid back in the early ‘00s, James scrimped and saved to buy his first camcorder, a Panasonic miniDV that could record in eye-popping 480p. It was love at first viewfinder. He put the hardware through its paces, filming kung fu combat, lightsaber duels, and alien invasions. Drawing on web tutorials, James taught himself how to edit, rotoscope, and animate his cinematic dreams.

All the way through college, James kept making short films with his friends. His first feature, a micro-budget sci-fi thriller, debuted in Indianapolis in 2015: he wrote, directed, produced, edited, composed the music, and did most of the visual effects. After moving to Austin, James parlayed his diverse skillset into a freelance post-production career. Having an editor with holistic knowledge of the entire post process proved incredibly useful to employers.

In short order, James was back to producing and directing in a professional capacity. Now, in addition to high concept narrative shorts and features, he makes documentaries and music videos, always brushing up on the latest technologies and techniques to make the impossible, possible.

With the rise of generative AI and a hyper-saturated media market, the filmmakers best positioned to succeed are those who never stop learning, adapting, and growing: that’s what it means to be a multi-hyphenate.