Today we’d like to introduce you to James Ridgley
Hi James, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I started with some kind of dream – a desire to do something which would give others pleasure (get your head out of the gutter) It started when I saw ropewalkers and jugglers at the Los Angeles Renaissance Festival. I wanted to do that! So my last year in high school I sought out people to teach me how to do it. I practiced incessantly. Then I found that I could use it not only to amaze others but it could be a way to cause them to laugh! I never looked back – eventually I travelled all over the world doing stand-up and comedy-juggling. I then was introduced to screenwriting and took that up with the same perseverance and dedication and got close to a few deals with various producers. When nothing happened I went to film school – a 40 year old student and ended up in the sound department – again perseverance lead to being part of some top films and again some traction with 2 of my original TV Pilots and 3 feature screenplays and this time covid related problems derailed all of that. Never giving up I now have made 3 feature films – mostly by charging ahead and doing most of the work myself! Driven by my creativity has been the fuel of my entire life.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Has it been a “Smooth road?” NO. If Disney had picked up my feature length screenplay – which they had extreme interest in before the Writer’s strike of 1988…; If the Johnny Carson show decided to have my juggling act on his show instead of a friend of mines…; If I had WON the Gong Show when I juggled on the original with Chuck Barris in 1978….; If Steven Spielberg had given me a real address to send my “boy and his dog” screenplay DC DOG – when I pitched it to him one sunny day on Matador Beach as he was walking back to his car – I couldn’t resist interrupting his privacy and giving it my best shot……; If the IMPROV Comedy Club in Los Angeles would’ve given me more slots at the club maybe….; If if if if if…..
The struggles are usually being in the right place at the right time – I’m sure I was in some of the right places… I’m guessing I was in a few of the wrong places as well. Yet I continued on and manage to have a few successful careers: live comedy entertainment and the film industry as head of the on-set sound department – including an Emmy Certificate win in 2010 for best production sound mixing; and now as an auteur filmmaker (meaning one who HAS to do it all – write, produce, direct, edit)
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As I move toward what some people would relish as close to their retirement years I am moving forward busier than ever “playing” in the same creative area I have been most of my life. Only now it takes the form of making my own feature films. What usually takes a community of people I am making with sometimes only a small handful – most of them being the actors in front of the camera. I have moved on from the barrage of Query letters I use to send on a daily basis to sell my “high concept” screenplays to writing my more personal stories in micro-budget films I can self-fund, using what I can use mostly for free. My house becomes my studio, my locations; my community becomes my resources; my own life becomes my muse. I am most proud that I am finally doing what I have wanted to do for the last 30 years. I am forging ahead to jump-start another career in this same film industry and entertainment industry I have played in my whole life. I have plenty of set-backs but I climb back on the saddle and ride again. To use another metaphor – there is always another wave to catch. Hollywood seems to have been in-between sets – with a lot of surfboards in dry-dock – yet I think the big “swell” is coming back, and soon. (Too much metaphor?)
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
How can people help? Great question and I’m gonna just lay out the truth – $$ That’s what can help most. Soon, I hope, my films will be seen by enough people to fund the other films I have screenplays already written for. I have burned out my family and friends on crowdfunding but am blessed to have gotten so much tremendous support. Invaluable. You know who you are.
Also I keep searching to find the right people who believe in me who have the power to get what I create to the right place, or people who can push it above the noise of the thousands of new films made every year. My first film – out to film festivals right this instant – A Natural Disorder of Things – “A recluse teen comes of age while waiting to get in a university, dealing with a first love and an autism diagnosis.” – is a personal story of raising 2 children on the high functioning Autism scale, and one for which I am most proud – I have great (unknown) Actors portraying these roles and have great confidence I have made an honest film about one family’s experience. Another of my most personal films: Siblings! – is based on my own family to which I have added wild elements to create it as a dark comedy.
On collaboration and support: I have a handful of other scripts ready to be made if only I had the money to add known actors, create bigger action, and use more locations. Ask any filmmaker – these are the things with can make or break a film, and a career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jamesridgleyfilms.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/james.ridgley.75/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamesridgley6922
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/actionjimbo.bsky.social
Image Credits
Saskia Adom; Synthia Paulin
