James Estes

I’m James Estes. I hail from a small town known as Baldwinville located in central Massachusetts. I have always been captivated by film and how things were done (especially in older films such as the original Godzilla movies, The Maltese Falcon and Vertigo just to name a few), I quickly took an interest to the industry. While studying at Academy of Art University, I first started out with acquiring my MFA in acting and quickly became a hyphen in the realm of writing and of course directing.

Being in front of the camera is where you will typically find me. There I always found myself asking how things were being shot, how the gears of the shoot were moving, and even giving input sometimes to help make the scene work from both perspectives in front and behind the camera.

Most of my life I have always wanted to be on stage or in front of the camera, somewhere along that journey, I discovered a second journey of interest which was to write and direct as well. To follow in the footsteps of a certain Massachusetts born duo, who went on to do the same thing, I’m looking out to do.

Being nominated for the NXT UP Festival 2024, and my short film Imagine That I had a very specific vision when given the task to create a short scene, and when I have a vision, I will do everything in my power to make it come to life. Taking inspiration from classic Film Noir films such as The Maltese Falcon, The Dark Corner, The Man Who Died Twice, and many more, using the different, cuts, angles and ambience to set up my vision, to deliver a Film Noir of my own.