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Musician by soul, filmmaker by vision. J.R. Niles is an American Film Director, Screenwriter, Producer, Musician, and Songwriter. Always led by a calling for adventure she made her first film on a solo journey to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa. Before filmmaking, Niles came out of the LA Rock Music scene of the late 1990s. Born on the East Coast, she grew up a beach kid to the sounds of Bruce Springsteen. She had a guitar in her hands by age seven and a camera soon after. Inspired by her parent's love of, and eclectic taste in music and cinema, and with a family full of jazz artists, her path was set. After living overseas, she moved to San Francisco and eventually made her way to Los Angeles. Niles is a proud member of the LGBTQ community. Her films both documentaries and narratives are painted with broad strokes on subject matter, as she writes and directs in various genres. Niles is the Executive Producer of The Hollywood Women's International Film Festival and the show She Talks Cinema.
She began writing and directing films in 2009 in East Africa. She holds both a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and a Master's Degree in International Comparative Politics from The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). Her first two films included, On This Land Kilimanjaro filmed in Tanzania, Africa at Mt. Kilimanjaro, and her film on Women of the French Resistance in WWII, The Art of Resistance, filmed in Paris, France. She directed both films during her time at UCLA. Since then she has gone on to write, direct and produce both narrative films and documentaries. She holds to the view that through film we can capture the essence of the human experience.
Her directorial influences come from across the film spectrum and include, Alfred Hitchcock, Sydney Pollack, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, David Fincher, Steven Soderbergh, Terrence Malick, Mike Nichols, Akira Kurosawa, Chantal Akerman, Spike Lee, Agnes Varda, Stanley Kubrick, Jean-Luc Godard, Francis Ford Coppola.
During her time in the LA music scene, she and her band played the circuit including the famed Los Angeles clubs, The Whisky A-Go-Go, and the Roxy on the Sunset strip. In 2000 she recorded her first CD, Edge Of The Sky, and signed a solo deal with a small label in Holland. After two weeks in Europe, three of her songs hit the radio airwaves. Upon returning to The States and after the devastating events of September 11th, 2001, Niles decided to go back to school and it was this choice that eventually brought her back to the film industry.
She enjoys sailing, riding horses, spending time in Paris and in The South of France, and will once again be returning to Paris to direct several features. Although Niles enjoys the documentary genre, her ability as a visionary, writer/director, and her love of working with extraordinary, acting talent and love of the caused-based narrative, has led her deeper into the narrative aspect of filmmaking. Niles is an Activist for women's rights, LGBTQ rights, an advocate for Animal rights, and an environmentalist.
