James Brown's introduction to the film business is movie fodder in itself: fresh-faced English lit/theatre grad in London gets gig as photojournalist in Japan; chance meeting in video store begets opportunity to write screenplay with $10 million US in backing. Plot twist: producer embezzles money to buy plush villa, whereupon our hero finds himself in a meeting with "large tattooed guys" and prudently leaves the country to write a novel in Thailand.

He may have left that project far behind him, but Brown's appetite for the craft had been whet. Nearly 10 years later he has turned out entertaining spots for Eurostar, DNA and PlayStation 2, and videos for Faithless, Finlay Quay and Tori Amos.

A Welsh native, Brown's road to filmmaking began in earnest when he landed a job at VTR. Brown says he was looking for a job at a prodco, but the London edit house needed someone the day he walked in. He worked his way up to editor, pulling favors to work on video projects in between, until one day he just up and hit the streets with his reel.

Before long, he'd signed with Stink in London for the UK and has since moved over to bicoastal Smuggler in LA. He feels his experience as an editor makes him a better director because he keeps the online editors and colorists very much in mind, partly out of self-preservation. "[They] showed no mercy with their biting comments," he says, adding that the criticism inspires him to do his best work. "I [want] to make them sit back and go, 'That's fucking good, man', because they're the hardest audience."

Brown, who's lived in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Tokyo, and experienced family vacations in Eastern Bloc countries, calls himself a child of the world. His experience interacting with a range of cultures infuses his work with an observational quality, whether it be watching a ne'er-do-well outrun the law in London for PlayStation's "Getaway" spot, following a young man in search of a passing love in Eurostar's "Lovely Day", or observing a pickup footie match that appears to be a riot in DNA's "Match".

Eschewing effects for effects' sake, he likes to break down barriers for the viewer. "A lot of stuff on TV has a plastic veneer to it," he says. "I try to get them involved emotionally."

WEBFILES:
Smuggler> http://www.smugglersite.com
Stink> http://www.stink.tv