JAMES MIDDLETON
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER FOR ALTERED CARBON
BA ‘84, American University, School of Communication
MFA, University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts
James Middleton is a versatile production and development executive with extensive studio and independent production company experience in television and film. Middleton has
worked with top directors and writers ranging from McG and David Nutter to relative newcomers Ashley Miller & Zack Stentz.
Middleton has successfully worked on major entertainment properties such as the TERMINATOR and JAMES BOND franchises and has also been involved with noted specialty films such as RICHARD III. He most recently produced the comedy, TEEN SPIRIT, for ABC Family.
Middleton was a key figure in the revival of the TERMINATOR motion picture franchise for C2 Pictures. He developed and produced TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES starring Lena Headey, TERMINATOR SALVATION starring Christian Bale, and developed TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Middleton is active in television, selling comedy and drama projects to MGM, WBTV, Fox
Broadcasting, AMC, ABC Family, SyFy, and TNT. He has developed strong relationships with executives, agents, and talent managers throughout the business.
As Executive Producer of THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, Middleton worked in partnership with series creator Josh Friedman and veteran showrunner John Wirth and was involved in all aspects of the series. Airing on Fox and throughout the world, the show was lauded by Variety, The LA Times, and The New York Times which called it, “One of the more humanizing adventures in science fiction to arrive in quite a while, the series is taut, haunting, relevant…” The show created a bidding war in the UK and broke DVD sales records for WBTV in Japan.
Middleton also oversaw the development of TERMINATOR-related comic books for IDW, novels for Titan Publishing, a digital animation series for Machinima.com, and a theme park attraction for Six Flags Magic Mountain.
Before executive producing THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES, Middleton was SVP of Production for Mario Kassar and Andy Vajna’s C2 Pictures and Cinergi. He was involved in the development and management of a number of company projects including I SPY and the Hungarian historical epic CHILDREN OF GLORY, written by Joe Eszterhas.
Middleton also worked for Catalyst, an independent film production company briefly associated with Sundance. Reporting to veteran executive Jeff Kleeman, Middleton was involved in all aspects of this start up specialty film unit.
Earlier in his career, Middleton was a Creative Executive and VP of Development at United Artists and MGM, reporting to widely respected executives John Calley, Frank Mancuso, Rebecca Pollack Parker, and Lindsay Doran. Middleton contributed to the development of many successful MGM/UA features including GOLDENEYE, ROB ROY, THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK, RONIN, and THE BIRD CAGE. He was also involved in the acquisition of specialty films including RICHARD III starring Sir Ian McKellen and Annette Bening and LEAVING LAS VEGAS.
Middleton earned his MFA at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts. In the course of his graduate studies, Middleton received awards for his thesis film, SOLO RUN, and created FIRST LOOK, USC’s student film showcase. He also graduated summa cum laude from American University’s School Of Communications.
Middleton has been seen on CNN and NBC newscasts concerning the entertainment industry and has participated on panels at Comic Con San Diego.
Middleton is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America.