James F. Cooney
(Line Producer)

     James F. Cooney is a freelance writer, producer, director, and life-long resident of Silver Spring, Maryland.  He has produced documentary features with Emmy award-winning Director/Producer Walter J. Gottlieb for Final Cut Productions and the non-profit Silver Spring Media Arts since 2005, including the CINE Golden Eagle winning “Heart & Soul:  The Life and Music of Frank Loesser” and “Next Stop: Silver Spring” for WETA-TV (PBS) in Washington.

     He has also worked as an associate producer to Gottlieb and JWM Productions on the re-versioning of several foreign feature documentaries for the Discovery-Times Channel.

     In 2008, James became the first Director of Production for SILVER SOUND, a film and television production studio based in Times Square, New York City, and the Director of Marketing for SILVER SOUND RECORDS. 

     In 2005 and 2006 he served as the Outreach Coordinator for the SILVERDOCS AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Film Festival in Silver Spring.

     In 2007, James produced the German-American co-production, “Sisters”, with Director/Producer Gabriel Shalom and the Hochschule für Gestaltung Karlsruhe. With Blue Sky Films, James produced and acted in the popular 2005 48 Hour Film Project entry, “Blown”.

     James also wrote and directed a trilogy of shorts focused on the historic National Park Seminary at Forest Glen including "Silver Spring Seminary", "Dinogestion", and "Those Who Trespass” which he produced with his filmmaker siblings Sean & Joy Cooney.

     James has been a worker, owner, and the senior member of the Maryland Food Collective, a not-for-profit natural food co-operative, since 2000.

     He is a graduate of University of Maryland, College Park with a B.A. in American Studies, and concentrations in Media Studies and Ethnic Studies.  In 2000, he was awarded the annual Montgomery College International Studies Scholarship for his work on- and travel to- Ireland, and in 2002 Montgomery College awarded him an A.A. in International Relations.

     James has frequently been invited to present on his work in documentary production and democratic & cooperative work spaces at academic conferences including the American Studies Association’s national conference at the University of the District of Columbia in 2005, The Chesapeake American Studies Association’s conference at the University of Maryland in 2006 & 2008, The National Conference on Organized Resistance at American University in 2007, the Eastern Conference on Workplace Democracy at the University of North Carolina in 2007, and the North American Students of Cooperation Institute at the University of Michigan every year since 2003