James Spooner (born 1976) is an American film director, tattoo artist, and graphic novelist. He is best known for his 2003 documentary film ''

Afro-Punk Afro-punk (sometimes spelled Afro-punk, Afropunk, or AfroPunk) refers to the participation of black people in punk music and subculture. Participation in punk music has existed since the genre's origins in the 1969 with the ska movement of Boss ...

'', and for co-founding the

Afropunk Festival The Afropunk Festival began in 2005, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York. By 2018, Afropunk Festivals had also been held in various major cities, including Atlanta, London, Salvador (Bahia), Salvador, Dakar, Dakar, and Johannesburg, Jo ...

. He also directed the 2007 narrative film ''White Lies, Black Sheep''. His first graphic novel, titled ''The High Desert'', was published in 2022.

Early life

James Spooner was born in 1976 in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. His father is a

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

n professional bodybuilder and former Mr. America and his mother is a retired special education teacher. His parents divorced when he was 8 years old. He grew up in

Apple Valley, California Apple Valley is an incorporated town in the Victor Valley of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Its population was 75,791 as of the 2020 United States census. The town is east of and adjoining to the neighboring cities of Victor ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and attended Apple Valley High School and Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts. He became fascinated with the punk rock scene in the 8th grade, listening to

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

, Black Flag, and

Misfits MiSFiTS was the acronym for the ''Minnesota Society for Interest in Science Fiction and Fantasy''. This organization has now changed its name to GPS, an acronym for Geek Partnership Society. It was founded in 1999 and was the parent non-profit org ...

Career

Music

Spooner is the founder of the record label Kidney Room Records. The label put out three records: Frail's single "Idle Hands Hold Nothing", Elements of Need and Jasmine's split single, and

Swing Kids The Swing Youth () were a youth counterculture of jazz and Swing (genre), swing lovers in Nazi Germany, Germany formed in Hamburg in 1939. Primarily active in Hamburg and Berlin, they were composed of 14- to 21-year-old Germans, mostly middl ...

' self-titled single. He worked as a host at On!, a late-night club event in New York City. In 2021, he was featured on

the Broad The Broad () is a contemporary art museum on Grand Avenue (Los Angeles), Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles. The museum is named for philanthropists Eli Broad, Eli and Edythe Broad, who financed the $140 million building that houses the Broad ...

's three-part documentary video series, ''Time Decorated: The Musical Influences of

Jean-Michel Basquiat Jean-Michel Basquiat (; December 22, 1960 – August 12, 1988) was an American artist who rose to success during the 1980s as part of the neo-expressionism movement. Basquiat first achieved notoriety in the late 1970s as part of the graffiti ...

''.

Film

Spooner directed the documentary film, ''

''. It premiered at the

2003 Toronto International Film Festival The 28th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 4 to September 13, 2003. A total of 336 films (252 feature length and 84 short films) from 55 countries were screened during the festival. Of the feature films, 73% were world, inte ...

. The film featured black punk fans and musicians talking about music, race, and identity issues. In the DIY tradition, Spooner toured the film across the country like a band, screening it over 300 times at college campuses and film festivals. The message boards on Afropunk.com became an online community where the users discuss fashion, film, racial identity, and gender politics. After the release of the film, Spooner curated the party series Liberation Sessions, where the film was screened and the bands performed live. In 2005, Spooner and Matthew Morgan co-founded the

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

. According to ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', it was "born of necessity, a reprieve from racism in punk spaces and a chance for black punks to build community with one another." The annual festival has grown and been held not only in Brooklyn, but also in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, Zulu and Xhosa language, Xhosa: eGoli ) (colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, Jo'burg or "The City of Gold") is the most populous city in South Africa. With 5,538,596 people in the City of Johannesburg alon ...

. In 2008, due to philosophical differences with its direction, Spooner ended his involvement with the festival. He also wrote and directed the narrative film ''White Lies, Black Sheep'' which was never released commercially. It premiered at the

2007 Toronto International Film Festival The 2007 Toronto International Film Festival was a 32nd annual film festival held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It ran from September 6, 2007 to September 15, 2007. The lineup consisted of 349 films from 55 countries, selected from 4156 submissio ...

Writing

Spooner's first graphic novel, titled ''The High Desert'', was published in 2022. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'' included the book in its list of the "10 Best Graphic Novels of 2022". The book also won the 2023

Alex Awards The Alex Awards annually recognize "ten books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults ages 12 through 18". Since 2002, the Alex Awards have been administered by the Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the ...

Personal life

Spooner is a vegan. He is also a tattoo artist at Monocle Tattoo, where he and others pioneered vegan-friendly tattooing. He currently lives in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

with his partner Lisa Nola and daughter.

Filmography

Feature films

Publications

Books

* ''The High Desert: Black. Punk. Nowhere.'' (2022) * ''Black Punk Now'' (2023), edited with Chris L. Terry

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Spooner, James American documentary film directors African-American film directors American graphic novelists American tattoo artists American male tattoo artists American people of Saint Lucian descent Living people Film directors from New Jersey 1976 births 21st-century African-American people