Born in Yorkshire, England, James Pickering was raised on a diet of genre cinema. At aged ten years old he wrote a screenplay for an episode of The X-Files, which won numerous writing contests and was turned into a school production. In 2020 his debut feature film All Joking Aside had its World Premiere at the Cinequest International Film Festival where it won the prestigious New vision Award. The film was subsequently nominated for a host of Canadian Film Awards before selling both domestically and internationally.

In 2021 Pickering began work on his first feature film as producer – a documentary titled I COULD NEVER GO VEGAN – in which he was also the film’s screenwriter. In November 2022 the trailer for the documentary launched to much hype and acclaim. In the first month of its launch the trailer was viewed over half a million times across Youtube and other social channels. The documentary is due for global release in 2023.

Pickering has a host of other screenplays under option and projects in development. His Political action thriller FACING DEATH has Aku Louhimies (UNKNOWN SOLDIER) attached to direct and Jeremy Wall (DEAD FOR A DOLLAR) onboard to produce, while his screenplay THE MAN WHO DRANK CANADA DRY – follows the life of larger than life snooker player Bill Werbeniuk and is under option with Animal Mother Films. He’s currently packaging a further two feature length documentaries set in the world of sport.

Pickering combines his love for genre cinema and creativity with his commercial nous to write and produce entertaining, acclaimed and innovative pictures.