James Jackson is an Emmy-nominated composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist. His work stretches across musical genres and artistic disciplines. James has composed music for a wide range of projects, artists, and companies including Netflix, Adobe, and YouTube, and is best known for scoring award-winning ballets and feature-length films.

 

In 2024, James wrote the original score and soundtrack to the Western Rust. He also composed the score and soundtrack to the 2024 short film MARE. Previously, he composed the score and sound design for the 2020 Emmy-nominated film Inside COVID19, contributed additional music to the feature film Crown Vic, which premiered at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival, and composed the music for a series of ten short films for Oculus VR. 

 

Before transitioning into the film world, James premiered his first full-length composition “How They Fade” at the Louisville Ballet. Alongside the works of Tchaikovsky and Philip Glass, the performance was part of the 2016-17 season and was accompanied by the Louisville Orchestra. In 2018, he continued his work in dance, co-composing and musical directing the ballet and concert experience FURY. Based on the iconic film Mad Max: Fury Road, FURY featured dancers from the SF Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet and premiered in San Francisco to sold-out audiences. 

 

James is also the co-founder of the post-pop band and creative content group YASSOU. In 2015, he produced, co-wrote, and mixed YASSOU's Video EP, a six-song project crafted around a singular story and emotional experience. Released as an “album cycle” of single videos, the EP was pronounced by Nylon as “redefining the album” and by Billboard as a "project that should be on your radar."

 

​As a songwriter and producer, James works with a multitude of artists in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Currently, you can find him baking sourdough bread in an 1873 farmhouse and scoring a series of documentary films for UC Berkeley.