James Belfer is an American independent film and tv producer. He is the founder and CEO of

Cartuna Cartuna is a Brooklyn-based animation production company that has made animated TV Shows for Syfy, Comedy Central and Facebook Watch. The company has producers, all of which have their own unique style. History The company was founded in May ...

, founder and CEO of Dogfish Pictures, and the founder and managing director of Dogfish Accelerator.

Early life

Belfer grew up on Long Island, New York. He received his Bachelor's Degree from

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in 2009. That year, Belfer founded Dogfish Pictures to finance and produce several feature films per year. He attended

NYU Stern New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 2011 to receive his MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Digital Marketing, and Business Analytics. He was also an Associate for the 2012 Boulder Class of TechStars and an investor in the MESA+ venture fund. In 2012, he created Dogfish Accelerator, the first accelerator program for independent film producers. He currently resides in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Film career

Belfer has produced and financed several films, including ''

The Romantics The Romantics are an American rock band formed in 1977 in Detroit. The band is often put under the banner of new wave and power pop. They were influenced by 1950s American rock and roll, Detroit's MC5, the Stooges, early Bob Seger, Motown R&B, ...

'' (co-producer), ''

Salvation Boulevard ''Salvation Boulevard'' is a 2011 comedy thriller film with religious satire undertones directed by George Ratliff and starring Pierce Brosnan, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei, and Jim Gaffigan. It is based on the novel of ...

'' (co-producer), '' Like Crazy'' (associate producer), '' Vamps'' (co-executive producer), '' Compliance'' (executive producer), and ''

Prince Avalanche ''Prince Avalanche'' is a 2013 American comedy-drama film written and directed by David Gordon Green and starring Paul Rudd and Emile Hirsch. The screenplay is based on the 2011 Icelandic film ''Either Way'' (''Á annan veg''). The film was shot ...

'' (producer). He is currently an adjunct professor at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, teaching strategies for independent filmmaking to undergraduates in Film & Television. In 2015 Belfer alongside Adam Belfer founded the animation studio

Filmography

Festivals

Belfer's films have participated in the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in m ...

Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno Film Festival is an annual film festival, held every August in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narrative, documentary, sh ...

, BAMcinemaFest,

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

San Francisco International Film Festival The San Francisco International Film Festival (abbreviated as SFIFF), organized by the San Francisco Film Society, is held each spring for two weeks, presenting around 200 films from over 50 countries. The festival highlights current trends in in ...

, and

Stockholm International Film Festival The Stockholm International Film Festival ( sv, Stockholms filmfestival, italic=no) is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November. The w ...

. In 2011, Belfer's film ''Like Crazy'' won the Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic at the Sundance Film Festival. In 2013, Belfer’s film

premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the 2013

Berlinale The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

Silver Bear Award for Best Director.

Honors

In 2012, Belfer was named "Ten Producers To Keep Watching" by ''

Deadline Hollywood ''Deadline Hollywood'', commonly known as ''Deadline'' and also referred to as ''Deadline.com'', is an online news site founded as the news blog ''Deadline Hollywood Daily'' by Nikki Finke in 2006. The site is updated several times a day, with ...

''.

References

External links

*
I'mAnEP: Musings, Rants and Raves of an Indie Film Executive Producer
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belfer, James Living people American film producers 1987 births Northwestern University alumni New York University Stern School of Business alumni American chief executives