I think that my upbringing provides me with a really unique perspective on identity and culture in Australia. When I lived in the Philippines I was the ‘Australian’ guy but when I returned to Australia I was the ‘Asian’. All the ads and TV shows seemed so hollow and fake to me, pandering to what marketeers thought was a homogenous Australian identity. The racism and stereotyping I saw around me was embarrassing. In high school in the Philippines, ethnicity was treated like eye colour: everyone had their own, they could be proud of what they had, but it rarely factored into any interaction with anyone or in reference to anyone. People were individuals, not representatives of their gender or race. Tsubasa was great at football; Miguel was the council president; Harshi was always so nice. I’m looking forward to a time where, as a society, we have the empathy to see our stories in everyone’s stories regardless of circumstance and are able to celebrate our shared humanity rather than separate each other based on our perceived differences. -2024

Biography

James (he/him) was born in the west of Sydney, Australia and is of Malay-Chinese and Scottish-Australian descent. He is neurodiverse (autism spectrum disorder level 1) and has a mental disability (schizo-affective disorder). In 1996 his family moved to the Philippines and he starred in his first production at the age of 10 as the Artful Dodger in Oliver!. Through middle and high school he continued to act in productions including The Wiz, Little Women as Laurie Lawrence, The Mahabharata as Yudhishthira, and Don't We All, a devised student work. He was the lead in the neo-Kabuki production of The Chronicle of the Battle of Ichinotani as General Kumagai, and performed in both Singapore and Manila for The Creation of Michelangelo where he played Pope Julius II. He also acted in a few student short films.

His first foray into directing was for the First Upperclassmen Comedy Company which he created in his final year at high school. He was also the creator and director of ISSBATV which was a news program filmed specifically for the high school audience. After graduating from high school in 2005 he moved back to Sydney where he enrolled in a Bachelor of Arts course at the University of Sydney with a UAI of 98.8. After studying there for one year he returned to the Philippines to assistant direct two productions; The House on Mango Street, which was also performed in Indonesia, and Beasts and Beauties. In 2008 he completed his second year at university and he eventually graduated with a BA in English and Film Studies in 2018.

interests

James lives in Western Sydney. He is a fan of graphic novels, in particular the writing of Alan Moore and Grant Morrison, and especially of Batman.