‏James Redford‏

James Redford is Founder and President of The James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness (JRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about the need for organ and tissue donation through film, educational outreach and the web. James founded the organization in 1995, two years after receiving a liver transplant at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.To meet this goal, James Redford produced The Kindness of Strangers (1999), a feature-length award-winning documentary film, which premiered on HBO; and "Flow", a short drama targeted to high schools and community-based youth programs. "Flow" is accompanied by an Educational Outreach Kit, which contains the video, lesson plans and support materials for high school teachers and community leaders. The Flow educational kits (distributed by the Coalition on Donation) have been enthusiastically received, and are currently in use in school systems, community organizations and youth groups across the country. The JRI web site has also been a resource for those seeking information about organ donation and those who have already been touched by transplantation and want to share their story, www.jrifilms.org reaches thousands of people each week.James Redford is producing a feature documentary about the Ramapough Mountain Tribe located in New Jersey. He recently made his feature film directorial debut with Spin (2003), starring Stanley Tucci, Ryan Merriman, Dana Delany, Paula Garcés and Rubén Blades, based on his adaptation of the novel of the same name. "Spin" premiered as an official selection of the Mill Valley Film Festival in October 2004, prior to its US theatrical release. "Spin" won a Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival and will be seen this fall Showtime.Redford also wrote the screenplays for Xavier Koller's Cowboy Up (2001) starring Kiefer Sutherland, Daryl Hannah and Pete Postlethwaite and Skinwalkers (2002) - director Chris Eyre's PBS/Mystery movie that was one of the highest rated PBS programs of 2002.Redford has written screenplays for such production companies as Universal Pictures, Blackbird films and South Fork Pictures. "The Acting Thing", for which he wrote the screenplay, was named best comedic short film at the Houston Film Festival and premiered on the Sundance Channel. He produced the documentary, The Kindness of Strangers (1999), which aired on HBO and won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival and Best Documentary at the Chicago Alternative Film Festival.Redford was Writer-in-Residence at the New Harmony Project in New Hampshire, and has been a correspondent for Rolling Stock Literary Review. Redford is also president of the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness, which he founded in 1995, following his liver transplant. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating the public about the need for organ and tissue donation.Jamie holds a Bachelor's degree in creative writing and film from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Master's degree in literature from Northwestern University. He lives in Marin County, California with his wife, Kyle, and their two children.He is a guitarist and songwriter currently playjng Marin County's local music scene with the Phat Barbees.