James Peniata

Early life

James Mathew Peniata was born on 13 March 1989 to an Australian Mother and Samoan Father. His name was James Mathew Phillips up until 2005 when he had it legally changed by his fathers demand. James was extremely shy in primary school and even more so in high school. His passion for acting and film came in high school drama class when he experienced the joy of performing. James could not afford to attend his final high school formal in 2006 and could not finish paying his high school fees which almost cost him his high school diploma, stating that his family had too many important things to pay for and not a lot of money. And unfortunately, "certain things had to be sacrificed". In 2007 James enrolled into Participate Film Academy where he studied for a year, graduating in early 2008.

Acting Credits

Peniata began acting professionally in 2006 after his high school graduation. In 2007, he appeared in various television commercials including an MTV promotional advertisement for the 2007 urban arts awards. He made his big screen debut in March 2008 with the release of the feature film Green Fire Envy in which he had a supporting role as Dante Walker. In June 2008 Peniata wrapped filming on Happy Deathday, a short horror film, and then joined the cast of Hell On Earth, a short fantasy/action film. In early 2009 James went on to work behind the scenes in the camera and electrical department for Next Door to the Velinsky's, an Australian psychological thriller. James also starred as Oscar Novat, the lead character in the 2011 Australian horror film Silent Eyes. In 2010 James played 'The Charity Host' in the action packed independent action film Charity Hurts. In 2011 Peniata took time off from acting to concentrate on directing his fantasy, action film 'Dead Moon Circus', but January 2012 saw James portraying the role of Simon Lord in Jon Cohens thriller 'Rules of the Game', to be released 2013.

Writing and Directing Credits

In 2010, two years after graduating from film school as an actor Peniata wrote the screenplay for the independent horror film Silent Eyes, and later teamed up with Producer/actor Peter Moalaeua to film it. With Peniata in the directing chair the film was shot in the western Sydney town of Toongabbie in three weeks.

Peniata also wrote and directed the independent feature film 'Have Sex and Die', which is inspired by the 70's and 80's grind house type slasher/monster movies. 'Have Sex and Die' was produced by Matthew Scott and Ben Ryan.

When directing James prefers to work with people he already trusts. Peniata has worked with almost the same crew on three of his films, 'Silent Eyes', 'Have Sex and Die' and 'Sweet Summer Gone'. Although James has worked with various actors, a core group of actors usually make appearances in his films.

In late 2011 Peniata began work on his first action/fantasy film 'Dead Moon Circus', although the film was set in Tokyo, Japan it was entirely shot in Sydney, Australia due to the extremely low budget. Sets were constructed within Bheema Studios and the cast were heavily trained for their various physically demanding fight sequences. This non-profit, extremely low budget fanmade film is based on the smash hit 'Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon' the Japanese media franchise created by Manga artist Naoko Takeuchi. The film is set to be released for non-profit free viewing online mid-2012.

James is currently working on his new features 'Sweet Summer Gone', 'Red City Blues' and 'Ballistic Fury'.