British writer/director James Hastings set up his independent film production company Hastings Infinity Films at the age of 12. He has since worked on numerous award-winning projects, including Hidden Insight, a drama exploring Jazz music as an antidote to anxiety and Make It Stop! an experimental short film shot in Iceland. Other projects include Off The Coast, a fantasy dealing with grief and The Distance, a short film he took to Cannes Film Festival 2015, being one of its youngest directors to attend.

 

His debut feature, Raymond’s 5 (2017) was funded through a successful Kickstarter campaign and earned a spot on Amazon Prime. Following in the footsteps of his hero, Steven Spielberg, many of his films were premiered at local cinemas (Odeon, VUE, Close Up London) to large audiences.

 

After winning the Inspiring Young Filmmaker Award in 2017, James became a Global Youth Ambassador for RoundTable Global and has won numerous awards at National Film Festivals with screenings at BFI Southbank, BFI IMAX London and Millennium Point, Birmingham. He has also worked with numerous talented filmmakers such as writer/director Peter Fellows (Death of Stalin, The Personal History of David Copperfield) and Ben Ashton, working as DP on his short film 'Send in the Clowns' which was distributed by leading YouTube Platform 'Omeleto'.

 

James also wrote/directed the original musical theatre production, Everything Between Us, a love story set during the height of the Cold War. The show was workshopped for two weeks and performed to members of the industry at Marylebone Theatre, London. He is a close collaborator with Toy Soldier Productions, creators of new musical Lady M and has directed several Music Videos with leading actors of stage & screen; Kerry Ellis (Wicked), George Blagden (Versaille) & Karl Queensborough (Hamilton).

 

With 8 months of experience working at Halo Post Production, London, James is now developing his next short film 

The Mourning of the Bells, about a grieving bell maker who joins a group of campanologists to communicate with his father's ghost. He must learn to let go and move on before his obsession turns to mania.