Dystopic Films was started by Writer/Director/Producer Gareth John James in 2006.
Gareth grew up constantly travelling between the US and Great Britain for much of his childhood, during which time he spent the majority of his formative years as what he likes to refer to as a 'studio rat' at film studios ranging from commonly associated production houses like Fox, Universal and MGM to lesser known establishment like Old Tucson Studios in Arizona (famous for such motion pictures as A Fist Full of Dollars and Tombstone).
Like so much of the things in Gareth's life, this love of the film industry was nurtured by his parents. His father purchased the family's first video camera when he was nine and it quickly became his favorite toy, documenting social events and family holidays. Sadly, the camera broke after a few years and was never repaired. However, much of the footage taken during those years would later be used as part of Gareth's first documentary Lionel.
Despite his previous experience of the industry, Gareth had no idea he would one day go on to become a film maker/media critic until his late teens. Coming from humble working class roots in an under-privileged part of South Wales, his high school was unable to afford even basic audio/visual equipment and thus did not run a media course. Gareth's passion during these days was English. Reading about classic literature cultivated a deep love of narrative which was strengthened further by his hobby of collecting comic books which provided the basis of his knowledge in visual story-telling.
For some time, it was believed that Gareth would become an actor. However, his shyness and low self esteem quickly discouraged him from the performing arts and he decided to stick to working behind the scenes as a writer/director. Following his immigration to Australia, he spent the majority of his gap year in full time employment whilst taking night classes at NIDA in screenwriting and stage directing.
In 2006, he made his first short film in Blister Blue, a Hitchcock inspired social commentary on the unspoken evils of child abuse. This socio-philosophical subtext runs through all of his directorial work, displaying a unique mix of cynical satire and biting skepticism toward the marginalising effect of conservative society.
