James Furlong

James Furlong has been in love with film for as long as he can remember. In 1986, he first saw Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, the first film he can remember truly being impacted by. It also began his love of stories that feature strong female leads. In Nausicaä, he found his first hero, and a film that has provided a blueprint for the stories he wants to tell. His love of film led him to The Los Angeles Film School, where he studied directing and sound design. He spent his time there absorbing all he could, doing as many jobs on set for others as possible, but directing remained his ultimate goal.

In 2017, James wrote and directed the horror comedy "An Unpleasant Surprise," a short which won Best Twist and the Audience Choice Award at the 2018 Austin Under the Stars Film Festival, as well as Best Dark Comedy at the Austin Comedy Short Film Festival that same year. In 2019, he followed up with "Sclera Absentia," a sci-fi horror short which has been selected in over 40 festivals, has won more than 20 awards, and is now featured on ScreamFest's streaming platform.

Recently, his short screenplay "Perfection" won the grand prize at the 2021 Hellifax Horror Fest and was featured on the Coverfly Redlist in December of the same year.