James Napier Robertson

At 42 years old, James Napier Robertson has this physical status:

James William Napier Robertson (born 24 March 1982) is a New Zealand writer, film producer, and producer whose 2009 film I'm Not Harry Jenson, which won Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Film at the 2014 New Zealand Film Awards, and was dubbed by New Zealand critics as "one of the best New Zealand films ever made."

He wrote and directed two episodes of Logie-award-winning crime drama Romper Stomper, as an actor in Shakespearean theater and several television films, including The Tribe and Being Eve, where he explained how his acting work "funded his early filmmaking."

Early life

Napier Robertson was born in Wellington, New Zealand, but he grew up in Devonport and attended Takapuna Grammar School, where he first performed in Shakespeare performances and musicals.

Marshall Napier is a comedian, and his cousin, actress Jessica Napier, is Marshall's daughter. He is also related to author Charles Dickens.

Personal life

In interviews, Napier Robertson said he has been a vegetarian since the age of four due to his passion for animals, and he has been a member of Greenpeace for the bulk of his life. SAFE, an animal rights charity, named him as the 'Hottest Vegetarian of 2014' alongside Academy Award winner Anna Paquin as a way to raise money for reducing animal cruelty. Napier Robertson is married and has two young children, a son born in 2016 and a daughter named Sophia who lives with him in Auckland.

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Early career

In his late teens, he joined a local outdoor Shakespeare Theatre Company, which he performed with for a number of years, often at the Pumphouse Theatre Amphitheatre. This time with the company has been described as his favorite period of acting.

He appeared in a number of local and international television shows over the next two years, both in support and lead roles. He was first cast in Being Eve as Jared Preston, a wayward teenager at the titular Eve's school, then in Shortland Street, and Mercy Peak as Luke Bertram, an arsonist dealing with his mother's death by burning down local buildings until he is apprehended by the police.

He appeared on two seasons of The Tribe in the United Kingdom, a post-apocalyptic series about a virus that has killed out all adults, causing only young people to fight amongst each other. He appeared on American television show Power Rangers Dino Thunder for one season, as Conner McKnight, a soccer player, and the Red Ranger. The film was shot in New Zealand and starred an almost entire New Zealand cast, including friend and future film producer Tom Hern.

He said he wasn't interested in acting during this period, rather investing the money earned by these shows to finance the short films he was directing and producing in his early twenties and buy film equipment.

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Awards and nominations

• Best Director - The Dark Horse - New Zealand Film Awards 2014
• Best Screenplay - The Dark Horse - New Zealand Film Awards 2014
• Best Director - The Dark Horse - Art Film Festival 2015
• New Filmmaker of the Year Award - SPADA Awards 2014
• Best Film Jury Award - The Dark Horse - St Tropez International Film Festival 2015
• Best Screenplay - The Dark Horse - New Zealand Screen Guild Awards 2014
• Best Film - The Dark Horse - New Zealand Film Awards 2014
• Best Film - The Dark Horse - Seattle International Film Festival 2015
• Best Film - The Dark Horse - San Francisco International Film Festival 2015
• Best Film Audience Award - The Dark Horse - Rotterdam International Film Festival 2015
• Best Film MovieZone Award - The Dark Horse - Rotterdam International Film Festival 2015
• Runner Up Best Film - The Dark Horse - Palm Springs International Film Festival 2015
• Best Film - Nominated - I'm Not Harry Jenson - NZ Film and TV Awards 2009