Films with fascinating characters and strong stories at their heart.

We believe that story and character are the basis of any successful film and we always seek to combine these key elements with the highest levels of technical craft.

Before starting Underdog Films, James Reed worked as a freelance producer-director on a diverse range of films, from observational documentaries to blue chip natural history features for Disney.

James started Underdog in 2015 to produce his film ‘JAGO – A LIFE UNDERWATER’. Jago was a truly independent project, made in collaboration with a trusted group of colleagues, who shared James’s passion and took a leap of faith to make an exceptional film.

Against the odds, and heavyweight competition, Jago went on to win Best Film at the 2015 Jackson Hole Film Festival – The Grand Teton Award – and became a commercial success too, being sold to Netflix, BBC, Arte, Smithsonian and many others.

Since Jago, James has directed the equally successful ‘RISE OF THE WARRIOR APES’ which won awards for writing, animal behaviour and Best Film – The Golden Panda – at Wildscreen 2018. He has also executive produced an adventure series ‘CHASING OCEAN GIANTS’ for Animal Planet and directed the Oscar-winning Netflix feature documentary ‘MY OCTOPUS TEACHER’. Most recently, he produced and directed the acclaimed four part series ‘CHIMP EMPIRE’ for Netflix.