About James
Stage 32 member since September, 2015
Owner at Orbital Sound, a digital creative media company celebrating twenty years of creative excellence this year.
James enjoys working with artists on their projects and he's had the privilege to record Loren Barrigar, who started playing guitar when he was only four years old, and by the time he was six, played the Chet Atkins hit “Yackety Axe” in front of thousands of country music fans at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville; he's also worked with Grammy Award winner, Joanne Shenandoah who was a Native American singer, composer, and multi-instrumentalist based in the United States. She was a citizen of the Oneida Indian Nation, Wolf clan, based in New York. Her music combined traditional melodies with a blend of modern instrumentation, and her lyrics conveyed her interests in nature, women's lives and Iroquois culture.
Other artists include John E. Owens who played for the Platters and toured with Gary U.S. Bonds; and artist Lois Dilivio who was Score Supervisor under Academy Award winner, Howard Shore at Abbey Road Studios for the extended release of LOTR.
He helped co-write a comedy screenplay remake of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians with screenwriter, D.K. DeVINE that was led in a table read by American actor Matt Malloy. The script made its way into the hands of one the founders at CAA where it is now, hopefully, still propping up the desk of some grateful stormtrooper at the Death Star. Currently, D.K. DeVINE has transformed the screenplay adaptation into a musical theater play, submitting it to the OPERAmerica's Campbell Opera Librettist Prize, which have reviewed his intent to apply, and his submission has been approved to advance to the full application stage.
Wunderlich's media company, IDCP provides filmmakers and directors with affordable digital cinema packages (DCP) allowing their work to gain access to audiences on the big screens that movie theaters have to offer at festivals like the Slater Brother's Hamilton International Film Festival presented by the historic Hamilton Movie Theater, which also has played host to the Banff Center Mountain Film Festival World Tour, and the prestigious Robert Flaherty Film Seminar. The theater has also hosted international and Hollywood directors like Mike Ross, who conducted a screening of his film, Captain Fantastic with a Q&A afterwards. James held a five year stint as head projectionist where he learned to make theatrical grade content and used the income to build out an Avid Media Composer Ultimate / Pro Tools Ultimate
digital film studio to produce 7.1 surround sound animated films in scope format.
Beginning this October, the Orbital Sound Anima Cinefest International Animated Film Festival aims to be the ultimate global gathering of original animation storytellers and audiences seeking quality animated entertainment from talented filmmakers. Our annual programming will strive to include dramatic animated shorts, features, and episodic animated content that embraces all animation styles and genres.
Anima Cinefest is an open platform for top tier talent but also supports new and student film-makers, who are just beginning their careers. It is our aim and hope to give them access to film industry professionals, like those on Stage 32, who can offer guidance and other forms of career assistance.
Submissions on FilmFreeway for the first annual Orbital Sound Anima Cinefest Animation Film Awards is open to animated films beginning the first of May this year. There are no fees to enter.
James is currently storyboarding an animated short set in the Fae Wild.
He can be reached at Orbital Sound. And, of course you can find him right here on Stage 32!
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Hey, James Wunderlich. "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians" sounds like it'd be fun to watch. Hope it isn't propping up the desk of some grateful stormtrooper at the Death Star. Hope it gets made as a movie or play.
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Hey @James! So glad you're here! Have you submitted to any of the Stage 32 contests? https://rb.gy/w1lu4
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Thank you for replying, Maurice. I recognize you from the animation lounge as part of the Lounge Crew. You write Contained Horror; that's a fascinating genre to tackle, and the audiences I'm told are the best in the business.
We were informed at CAA that the property would be passed along to Zach Galifianakis's people but as far as SCCTM is concerned, it's dead in the water as a movie, as one respected NYC entertainment lawyer told us - but honestly, it quite possibly has legs as a musical theater production due to the tangible aspect of handing a recording off to someone to listen to. The difference being that a song is the actual thing itself, whereas a script isn't the movie. Even architects have a hard sell with blueprints and rely upon models to convert the sale. We'll see in a few months if the property has any legs with the Broadway community. Again, thanks for the support, much appreciated!
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Thanks for reaching out, Emily. It's good to be here. Stage 32 has been a tremendous resource for as long as I've been a member. I enjoy the blog emails and parse the different lounges as my skill set has deepened over the years and on occasion offer a word or two of encouragement or engage in a discussion. However, entering contests have never been part of the long range business plan here at Orbital Sound. This is an amazing community site that Richard Botto has founded, and in likewise fashion, when I see and read about the quality of work being done by filmmakers in the animation lounge it occurred to me that I could provide the venue and an opportunity to showcase and acknowledge that work in front of a global potential audience that represents 172 countries in what would be one of the most effective ways of giving back to the community that has supported me.
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Thanks for the like Leonardo Ramirez. Haven Of Dante and The Jupiter Chronicles look great!
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Thanks for the like Hakim Kisakye. Your screenplay loglines have an edge to them. Nice Job!
You're welcome, James Wunderlich. Yeah, I mainly write Contained Horror. They're easier to sell and cheaper to make than some other movies. And you don't need A-List actors for Contained Horror.
Zach Galifianakis is one of my favorite actors. He's hilarious! My two favorite Zach Galifianakis movies are "The Hangover" and "Due Date."
I can definitely see "Santa Claus Conquers The Martians" as a play. Keep us updated on it.
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Thank you for the like, Bill Hartin. Excellent loglines. The one two punch at the end of Key West is top drawer. Screenplays and Suds sounds very interesting. How often do you have showings and do they name special event craft brews after the movie titles or the event itself?
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Maurice Vaughan, I agree...Contained Horror has a lot to recommend it; plus the fact that screaming is applause. I imagine that it has got to be a satisfying thrill to sit in on a screening and hear all the screaming for a job well done.
My writing partner gets invited to LA about once a year and has played beach volleyball with Zach. He always comes back with some extremely funny stories.
Thanks so much for your kind words on the musical and I'll keep you updated if I hear anything. Right now he is orchestrating one of his submission pieces to get it ready for the deadline in a couple weeks.
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Thank you for the like, Eric Soulas. First chance I get, I'm going to check out your personal site and find out more about your work. What you wrote about writing music that tells a story on an emotional level resonates with me, and if it is also just achingly beautiful, dripping with pathos and soaring into the vaulted heights from out of the abyss, then that is note after note where I'd like to end up on this lifelong journey and love of the craft that we both share.
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Thank you for the like, Alexandra Val. I thoroughly enjoyed your film "Pixel Y'". Fantastic!
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Thank you for the like Jon-Mark Hurely. I see that you enjoy singing musical theater. I will mention you to my writing partner, as he is looking to record vocals this summer on eight of his arrangements to shop around out of his book. Is there a site that I can direct him to where he can hear your voice? At the moment he is getting ready to lay vocal tracks down with his own voice to demonstrate the overall tone and stylistic feel he is after for each of the principal characters. Hopefully, if he likes what he hears, we can contact you through PEG. He was just out in LA pitching the project to our contacts there. I'm not sure what their next move is, but it can't hurt for me to ask and put your name in the ring.
You're welcome, James Wunderlich. It's probably hard to play volleyball with Zach Galifianakis because he'd be telling jokes. Haha
Looking forward to hearing the update.
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Thank you for the like John William Blaney. I've added you to my network and look forward to hearing what your working on at Bridge Of Gold Entertainment.
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Thank you for the like, Wayne Jarman. The Dracula Noir musical looks interesting. I'll give it a watch on YouTube this weekend.
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Thank you for the like, Penny Penelope Koutourinis. I hope the joy of writing a children's book lights a spark for your young readers to write their own stories when they grow up.