ASHLEY JAMES IS AN AWARD WINNING ACTRESS AND FILMMAKER BASED IN AUSTIN, TX. HER APPROACH TO STORYTELLING IS INTIMATE, AND HIGHLY STYLIZED, OFTEN WRITING AND PLAYING COMPLEX, ANTI-HEROINE ROLES.
IN 2018, JAMES JOINED WITH PARTNERS ELIZABETH TABISH AND JANET TRAVIS TO FORM MAENAD PRODUCTIONS. TOGETHER, THEIR FILMS HAVE GARNERED MULTIPLE AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST ACTRESS FOR JAMES IN HER ROLE AS JANE FROM MOTHER'S DAY. JAMES IS CURRENTLY SET TO STAR IN THE UPCOMING SERIES "DNATURE" AND THE SHORT FILM "OK, SURGAR" WRITTEN BY TEMPLE BAKER, AND DIRECTED BY AUSTIN AMELIO. SHE IS ALSO THE WRITER BEHIND "BLOODY BEATRICE", ONE OF FIVE FILMS TO BE PRODUCED IN PART II OF "TALES OF THE DANCING MAENADS".
JAMES received her bfa in film directing from the academy of art university in san francisco and studied acting at the meisner technique studio with jim jarrett. she has earned best actress nominations for her stage roles as catherine givings of sarah ruhl's "in the next room (or the vibrator play)" and vanda/venus of david ives' "venus in fur".
•A NOTE FROM THE MAENADS•
The maenads are back and ready to create Part II of the award-winning anthology series. Five new short visionary films, written and directed entirely by women, featuring bloody beatrice, written by ashley james. we continue to explore themes of healing old wounds, reclaiming power and transcending conditioning. The response from critics and film festivals has been incredible so far, check out maenad productions to view our films and get a sneak peak @ part ii of tales from the dancing maenads.
