Director James Gooding, who’s also a lauded photographer, has joined the roster of production house Wondros. Formerly repped by Hungry Man, Gooding has turned out work for such brands as Allianz, Samsung, Honda and Toshiba, and agencies including Droga5, CP+B, Grey, and Wieden+Kennedy. Gooding has also collaborated with such musical artists as Dirty Vegas, U.N.K.L.E, Timbaland, RZA, Method Man, Chris Cornell, and Coldplay.
Gooding’s photographs have appeared in such publications as The Sunday Times Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph Magazine, Financial Times Magazine, Stern, Liberation, Photographers Monthly, Time Out, Fast Company, EXIT, V Magazine, Esquire, GQ, Mean, Flaunt, Nylon, and Purple Magazine. His photographic projects have exhibited in galleries worldwide and examine topics ranging from videogames and the players who love them ("Players") to the hopes and struggles of small-town America ("State" and "One Night in August"). Gooding’s 2007 project, "The Triangulation of Happiness," followed 14 subjects for a full week, documenting their day-to-day lives and drawing connections to psychologist Abraham Maslow’s theory of happiness. Created in collaboration with Diesel, the project was exhibited in New York, Los Angeles and at the Louvre in Paris and was subsequently issued as a book of photos and essays penned by Gooding.
Gooding’s commercial directorial debut, a multi-media campaign for Brother Europe, earned him inclusion in the 2012 Shoot New Directors Showcase (during his Hungry Man tenure); the campaign was shortlisted at Cannes Lions, and went on to win a Silver at the Campaign Big Awards. His work with Droga5 for Puma was shortlisted for D&AD. In 2013, Gooding was awarded a Gold at Creative Circle and a Silver at the Campaign Big Awards for his work with Grey for the British Heart Foundation.
Originally hailing from London, Gooding currently resides in Los Angeles where he is developing a long form series called The Birth of a Sport: The Rise of the Professional Video Game Player.
