JAMES DEREK DWYER was born March 4, 1970 and grew up on Cape Cod, MA. He received a BFA degree in Creative Writing and Photography at Emerson College in Boston.

It was while studying at Emerson that he programmed a short film/video screening and met director Todd Verow. They collaborated on the controversial feature film Frisk (Sundance, Berlin, and Toronto 96), based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Cooper. It starred Craig Chester and Parker Posey and featured music by Coil and members of Sonic Youth.

Frisk was a baptism of critical and political fire that both Dwyer and Verow arose from much stronger and far more focused. Together they formed one of the first digital video motion picture companies, Bangor Films and were hailed as pioneers by the international entertainment media. They have been profiled on CBS’ 48 Hours and in the pages of Time Magazine and Filmmaker Magazine.

Notable ultra low-budget, award-winning motion pictures include:Little Shots of Happiness (Berlin, SXSW, Mill Valley 97), Shucking the Curve (NYUFF 98) and The Trouble with Perpetual Deja-Vu ([d] vision fest ‘99) shot in Dwyer’s hometown of South Yarmouth. …Deja Vu won the Choice Award at the New York Underground Film Festival and the Silver Jury Prize at the Chicago Underground Film Festival. A Sudden Lost of Gravity , set in the eighties in Verow’s hometown of Bangor world-premiered at the 50th Berlin International Film Festival. Five of the films that Jim has produced or co-wrote have premiered at the Berlin fest.

The award winning Once & Future Queen, which starred underground legend Philly, premiered in Europe at the 53rd Locarno International Film Festival. It was the first film to feature Jim’s original music.

Bangor Films features are available on DVD everywhere as well as VOD at Vimeo and streaming via Amazon Prime.

In 2001, Jim and Todd Verow received a DAAD Artist in Residency grant (formerly Ford Foundation funded) and lived/filmed in Berlin, Germany for six months. He began his first novel during this period while visiting Italy for the first time.

Jim’s articles, interviews and film criticisms have appeared in Filmmaker Magazine, insound.com, reel.com and Ifilm.

His photography has appeared in numerous national and international publications including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Screen International and Variety.

Jim is the lead medical photographer at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a major teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. He’s been with BIDMC for 25 years.

Jim’s first book of photography from the early Bangor Film years, FILM IS DEAD, is available now for purchase.

He is currently painting up a storm in Boston, MA.