James M. Johnston is a filmmaker from Fort Worth, TX. He was a 2011 Creative Producing Fellow at the Sundance Institute and was recently named to Variety’s 10 Producers To Watch list with his producing partner Toby Halbrooks.
His work as a producer includes the award-winning films St. Nick (2009), Pioneer (2011) which won the Grand Jury Prize at six film festivals including South by Southwest, and co-produced Yen Tan’s award-winning film Ciao (2008), which was distributed theatrically by Regent Entertainment. Johnston also produced Ain’t Them Bodies Saints by writer/director David Lowery, starring Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, and Ben Foster which premiered in competition at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and the film Pit Stop by Yen Tan, which premiered at Sundance in the NEXT section.
Johnston is a director in his own right and his short films have played at festivals around the world. His most recent film Knife was the recipient of a production grant from Rooftop Filmmakers Fund. Johnston also co-owns two successful vegan restaurants – Spiral Diner & Bakery – with his wife Amy McNutt. They are in the process of opening Fort Worth’s first art house cinema called The Citizen Theater.