James Braithwait

James Braithwait is an illustrator and film maker, that is currently residing outside of Montreal. James summarizes his career as more of an experience that deals with life as it happens. Attending the University of Concordia James enrolled in English literature, but found that the pursuit of academics was not his forte. Realizing this lack of enthusiasm towards the educational institution, he soon formed an artist collective called the young people's collective. The group was made up of friends from many different faculties and was not restricted to just artists. A twenty four hour art marathon was set up, and works were produced once every twenty fours minutes continually in a twenty four hour period. Seeing the success of this project James continued to pursue his love of drawing using anything he could get his hands on. Soon DVDs, album covers, t-shirts and even working for magazine soon became avenues of expression for Braithwait.
     This work soon led him to creating the film "I meet the walrus". The film was based on an interview done by Jerry Levitan at the age of fourteen with John Lennon. Originally James was approached to create a documentary based on the experience. Upon further review of the material he found many of the images and recordings would be better suited if featured in an animated film. Levitan agreed and soon the film was being submitted to film festivals around the world. Early on the film found little success as rejection after rejection soon followed. Eventually the film was accepted into the Sundance Film Festival, and in turn was nominated for an Emmy. The film unfortunately lost, but James elaborates in stating " the experience of just being nominated and being able to take part in such a spectacle was rewarding" I feel this point is very relevant in today's artistic community as rejection is often a part of the process. Without this we are unable to grow and expand as an artist and reach our full potential. Following his experience at the Oscars, the film was eventually nominated for a daytime Emmy. This time the film won and affirmed to James the path he chose as an illustrator was definitely paying dividends.
         Today James Braithwait spends his time working with the National Film Board of Canada. His work included short sixty second film, as well working with children producing work that deals with topics such as death, religion and the planet. James is a great example of a contemporary artist that has found his niche  within the artistic community. His passion for the arts is apparent when you hear him discuss how he has achieved success throughout his career.