James Choi

James Choi is a prolific, award-winning filmmaker with over a decade of film industry experience in Los Angeles having worked in representation, production and digital media.

He has a long history of collaborating and supporting young directors on their debut feature films. He has produced two award-winning feature films from first-time directors that premiered at South by Southwest - "Made in China" and "Saint Frances" - which were distributed by IFC Films and Oscilloscope Laboratories, respectively. Both of these films marked the debut features of their respective directors. Saint Frances was nominated for two Gotham Awards and the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2021.

James has also been involved in helping students produce their first feature films through Indie Studio, which he founded in 2017. Indie Studio is an initiative that provides financing and support to students at DePaul who are interested in directing and producing independent feature films. "Waiting for the Light to Change," the latest feature film to come out of Indie Studio, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Feature at Slamdance in 2023. James has become an integral part of the independent film community by being committed to mentoring and collaborating with emerging filmmakers.

James is frequently featured as one of Newcity's Film 50 - the leaders of Chicago's film culture. Having been in the forefront of the independent film movement in the last decade, James has also directed numerous films that have screened widely all around the world, winning awards and receiving distribution.

His most recent film as a producer "Rounding,” made its World Premiere at Tribeca Film Festival in 2022 and will be released in 2023.

Education

• MFA DePaul University (2009 — 2014)
• Bachelor of Science - BS Pepperdine University (1991 — 1995)