James McLean

Producer

Award winning producer James McLean started his film career in front of the camera, acting on television shows such as Clueless, Cracker and Power Rangers, but he soon became more fascinated with what goes on behind the camera. Striving for more knowledge, McLean attended the prestigious film school Brooks Institute of Photography, where he polished his skills by learning every aspect of filmmaking. He graduated cum laude.

During his matriculation at Brooks, McLean produced many award-winning short films. He was selected to produce the 2005 Kodak 35mm project; a project set up by Kodak to give student filmmakers the opportunity to use cutting-edge tools, and to collaborate with notable film industry professionals who served as mentors during the project. 

McLean made his professional producing debut while still in school, with the music video Maria Jose for the Latin Grammy Award-winning band Kinky. Directly following his graduation McLean was asked by his alma mater to produce Brooks Institute’s 60th anniversary awards show in 2005. The gala included three live events spread over two days; a VIP cocktail mixer sponsored by Samy’s Camera, a series of workshops led by industry leaders sponsored by Eastman Kodak, which included the West Coast premier of Canon’s XLHD Camera; and an award show with nearly 1,000 guests set in the 1940s era; featuring performances by Les Brown and the Band of Renown.

In 2006 McLean founded Black Bay Entertainment as an avenue to showcase compelling independent films, music videos, commercials and live events. Prior to founding the company, McLean worked as an independent producer, building his career in various positions including line producer, unit production manager and 2nd assistant director on a multitude of projects including commercials, music videos, television, features, and print.

McLean produced Fox Sports Soccer Channel’s ad campaign “What’s on your Mind?” in 2006. The project included four international commercials that premiered during the 2006 World Cup. McLean and Black Bay Entertainment also produced the feature films Choose Connor and Mr. Blue Sky in that same year.

Choose Connor is a political thriller starring Steven Weber, Alex Linz, Erick Avari and Christopher Marquette. The film won Best American Independent at the Philadelphia Film Festival, as well as having sold-out screenings on a worldwide film festival circuit. Choose Connor was released theatrically in October 2008 and is now available on various streaming platforms through Strand Releasing. 

Mr. Blue Sky (starring Chaney Kley, Richard Karn and Mary Kate Shellhardt) is a touching and inspirational drama about a woman with Down syndrome. The film was used by the White House and the Obama administration to help educate Serbian leaders in the possibilities of people with Down syndrome, due to the fact that the current life expectancy in the country is only 10 years. Now available on various streaming platforms and DVD.

In 2007 McLean and Black Bay Entertainment teamed up with Walter Koenig from the original Star Trek to create InAlienable a science fiction film straight from the mind of Walter Koenig and directed by Robert Dyke. The all-star science fiction cast included Richard Hatch, Courtney Peldon, Marina Sirtis, Erick Avari, Walter Koenig, and Alan Ruck. InAlienable is now available on various streaming platforms through Anchor Bay Entertainment.

In 2008 Black Bay Entertainment released its highly acclaimed award-winning documentary The Guerrero Project. The documentary tells the story of the three year saga that was endured by 561 captive Africans after their slave ship Guerrero struck tragedy in 1827 when it sank off the coast of Florida during a high-speed chase through reef infested waters. The Guerrero was an important part of US history and now the documentary is being used across the country to inform and educate throughout countless museums and education institutions. Black Bay Entertainment’s latest feature film, a romantic teenage comedy entitled Getting That Girl is also now available on various streaming platforms and DVD. 

Over the years McLean has produced numerous commercials and music videos for several national advertising clients and record labels. In 2016 Mclean won the best commercial award at La Femme, and Williamsburg International for his Shari’s Berries commercial Holiday Help Desk. In 2017 McLean produced John Mayer’s hit music video I Still Feel Like Your Man from his album The Search for Everything. In 2017 McLean also won the Best Rock Video of the Year Award at the MTV Video Music Awards, and was nominated for the prestigious U.K. Video Music Award for his hit music video Heavy Dirty Soul from the Grammy Award-winning band Twenty-One Pilots. 

In 2019 Mclean released his highly anticipated, critically acclaimed, award winning short film, Kenobi: A Star Wars Fan Film, staring Jamie Costa, Tommy Snider, Maxine Phoenix , Audie Rick , and James Arnold Taylor. Available to stream on Youtube. McLean also produced the musical commercial Daddy for Toyota Prius with the DGA’s Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), who’s mission it is to foster awareness and increase directing opportunities for women and other historically underrepresented groups of people through a targeted program of outreach, mentorship and exposure. 

In 2021 McLean and Black Bay Entertainment discovered that its confidential “Robin” screen test footage was illegally leaked to the public. McLean and Black Bay Entertainment were actively developing a feature-length Robin Williams biopic for the previous two years. The leaked screen test was meant for internal use only and was never intended for public release. The attempt to remove the footage before it went viral was unsuccessful. The footage received over 10M views in a matter of hours before the original video was taken down, but by then, it was picked up by every major news source in the world causing the footage to spread rapidly throughout the web. McLean produced the screen test for internal development purposes only; to assist the filmmakers and production company in further defining the method of dramatically rendering Robin's incredible genius, to coordinate and collaborate with potential directors, and to privately provide the Williams family a sample of what we aim to achieve as we hold the family’s feelings in the highest regard.

In the last few years McLean has done commercial projects for clients such as Direct TV, Cox Media, Verizon, Apple, and most recently produced the Latin Grammy Award-winning artist Chiquis Rivera’s new hit music video - "Pa'Ti”, and the Latinx branded short film Drive Your Imagination for the Hola Mexico Film Festival sponsored by Toyota Camry, which included a live 360 photo booth activation during the festivals opening and closing nights.