Director/Writer James O'Donnell
(Jimmy O'Dee)

Jimmy has been a stuntman for nearly 30 years, working on major Hollywood productions as a Stunt man, Stunt coordinator and 2nd Unit Director. 
Jimmy lives with his Wife Nora in Kent, UK. He used to be a Chef, an Airline Pilot, a Hotel Owner and is a Martial artist with 5 Black Belts in different arts, holding a 6th Degree black belt in Ki-Aikido. He loves riding his BMX cruisers.
He is a multi awards winner with Aping Edwin Porter and other industry awards  include SAG, Taurus World Stunt awards and MTV, and he is member of DGA, SAG-AFTRA and British Actors Equity.
He has been Sir Kenneth Branagh’ 2nd Unit/Action Director for the past 7 years, collaborating on Murder on the Orient express, Artemis Fowl, Death on the Nile;, The Academy winning film Belfast and the latest in the Hercule Poirot series -  A Haunting in Venice. 
Jimmy has had the great pleasure of working with many of the all-time great Directors Hollywood has to offer and has learned from their collective experience to form his own style of Directing. 
A born storyteller, the award-winning Stuntman and Producer (Gypo/Ruby Blue) has designed many big action sequences that audiences have enjoyed the world over. Jimmy has now turned his attention to directing at the helm and brings us a unique short movie in ‘Aping Edwin Porter’, a film which he adapted from an original screenplay by John Whetstone, that tells the tale of four recently graduated film students hoping to get their first feature film off the ground. 
“I’ve tried to be bold making this film in the way I have. ..no matter how many times I’ve seen it, it still makes me laugh!” says O’Donnell, “But key for me for my first main unit Directing gig, was to make a movie you didn’t expect from a stuntman!,”. Aping Edwin Porter hits the festival circuit this summer.