James Jackson

Biography

James Jackson is an Emmy-nominated American composer, producer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose work spans film, television, dance, and popular music. He has composed for companies and projects associated with Netflix, Adobe, and YouTube, and is particularly known for scoring feature films and award-winning ballet productions.

In 2024, Jackson composed the original score and soundtrack for the Western Rust. He also scored the short film MARE (2024). His earlier screen work includes the music and sound design for the Emmy-nominated film Inside Covid19 (2020), additional music for Crown Vic (2019), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, and music for a series of short films created for Oculus VR.

Jackson began his career in the world of dance music. His first full-length composition, How They Fade, premiered with the Louisville Ballet during its 2016–17 season and was performed alongside works by Tchaikovsky and Philip Glass with the Louisville Orchestra. In 2018, he co-composed and served as musical director for FURY, a ballet and concert experience inspired by Mad Max: Fury Road, featuring dancers from the San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King LINES Ballet.

He is also the co-founder of the post-pop band and creative collective YASSOU. In 2015, he produced, co-wrote, and mixed the group's six-song Video EP, an interconnected project released as a series of individual music videos.

Alongside his film and dance work, Jackson continues to work as a songwriter and producer with various artists. His career reflects a broad approach to music, combining composition, sound design, production, and multimedia storytelling across different artistic disciplines.