James is a professional screenwriter and teacher with many years of experience spanning both worlds. For television he has written soaps, series and single dramas including The Bill, Doctor Finlay, Monarch of the Glen and Split Second, a TV movie for BBC One starring Clive Owen and Helen McCrory. James has also been involved in high-profile adaptations and collaborations with best-selling crime author Ian Rankin, including Reichenbach Falls for BBC 4 and Doors Open, a comedy-thriller starring Stephen Fry and Douglas Henshall, directed by Marc Evans, for ITV.
James has worked in other forms with some success. A short film Disco made in collaboration with students won a Bafta Scotland New Talent Award. His stage play Terminal won a Fringe First; an adaptation for Radio 3 was nominated for a Sony Award. A libretto Out of Season with the Royal Opera House received an Olivier Award nomination. A short story Brittle was published in Work, as a winner of the Orange/Scotland on Sunday New Writing competition.
James combines his writing work with teaching on Screen Academy Scotland’s MA Screenwriting, and MFA Advanced Film Practice programmes bringing industry experience to the classroom and building bridges between academia and industry. Over 20 years, he has worked with over 500 students, many of whom now work at a high level in the UK and international film and TV industries as filmmakers, screenwriters and in development.
James has been an External Examiner for NFTS Scotland, Trinity College Dublin, Bournemouth and Birbeck universities, broadening his experience of new writing beyond Scotland. Until 2026, he led the Kino Eyes Joint European Film Masters working with over 250 international filmmakers making short films and developing TV and feature projects.
Various research projects include an exploration of the use of sound in screenwriting and various aspects of adaptation. Consultancy work includes script development with Bafta-winning animation duo Will Anderson and Ainslie Henderson on Dom, their debut feature documentary which premiered at the Edinburgh International Film Festival in 2022, winning the inaugural Powell and Pressburger Award.
Current projects include setting up a writing residency in the south of France and a feature film, Hexagon, a musical comedy about a fractious six-piece acapella singing group on a chaotic comeback tour of Estonia.
