James Bartolomeo was raised in Baltimore, MD before moving to New York City after college. His first experience on a film set was as a PA on John Waters' Hairspray. He went on to work as a camera assistant on myriad films and TV series such as Homicide: Life on the Street, Oz, The Sopranos, Spiderman, Men In Black, and Requiem for a Dream. He directed his first documentary short in 1994 about Sankofa Dance Theater, which aired on PBS. In 2005 he wrote and directed the narrative featurette, Tuffy Low-low, which ran the film festival circuit and won numerous directing awards. James has been directing commercials since 2002. One day he hopes to own a vineyard powered by a wind farm. Or something like that.