James P. Axiotis
- Producer
- Director
- Editorial Department
James P. Axiotis, a domestic and international television/film producer with over 35 years of experience developing and producing content throughout the East and West Coast markets within the United States and European markets.
As an immigrant adopted from an orphanage in Athens, Greece, I have dedicated much of my life to addressing issues surrounding immigration, displaced children, and social injustice, especially when it comes to women's rights. I am also currently working on my own film, Georgia, which tells the true story of my young single mother forced to give up her "illegitimate" child in Greece.
Growing up in Southern California with my adopted family, I first went on set at the age of 13 for an ABC after-school special, "Mighty Moose and the Quarterback Kid", and knew instantly film was the career for me. I began work as a production assistant on television shows and soon became a post-production supervisor at NBC network. By age 24, I was one of the network's youngest producers at NBC. I have also had the opportunity to learn the huge importance of utilizing social media to increase viewership and awareness and have worked on shows for Facebook/Instagram.
Beyond my production work, I have served two terms on the National Board for the Producers Guild of America, where I am also a part of the International Committee and the AAPI Committee, and am a member of the Producers Guild of Europe, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, BFI, Academy Circle Member of BAFTA, and the Greek America Foundation.
Through my production talents, I am also passionate about supporting and empowering non profit organizations. Most recently, this passion has led me to help local Los Angeles-based non-profits such as Project Angel Food that prepares and delivers healthy meals to feed people impacted by serious illness, bringing comfort and hope every day; and Fix'n Fidos a pet non-profit that has helped curb over population of pets, and assists in keeping pets safe and in their homes with their owners, by assisting coverage with vet bills and pet food during the recent pandemic and beyond for pet owners who were suddenly out of work.
What has perhaps had the greatest impact on me personally, though, is when I was honored to be tapped to serve as an officer for the Children of War Foundation (COWF). My time there gave me the opportunities to travel to Ukraine twice on behalf of COWF after the recent outbreak of war to supervise and hand-deliver humanitarian medical aid upwards of half a million dollars of medical supplies to two hospitals in Kyiv and Lviv. Further, I was honored to be able to deliver similar aid to a COWF-sponsored run school for refugees on the Jordanian-Syrian border. On all of these humanitarian trips, I was able to use my knowledge of film and storytelling to document the work being done by the local communities and COWF and spread the message of what COWF does in helping refugee children worldwide and supporting their countries in overcoming the debilitating effects of war and its impact on children.
As I grew in my career and life, I never forgot being an orphan from another country. I found myself looking outward more from the U.S. to expand not only my philanthropic work but also my professional work in support of those that had similar circumstances and upbringings.
In 2022, I became an Academy Circle Member of BAFTA. I was very pleased to be able to honor my birth mother and the struggles she went through as a single mother by donating a chair in her honor at the new BAFTA Princess Anne Theatre with my mother's name placed prominently on a theater chair. Honoring my mother in this way is a silent memoriam to her and the other single mothers in Greece who loved their children and were forced to put them up for adoption during a dark time in Greece's past.
I plan to continue creating meaningful content with an international mindset and a domestic approach.
In tandem with producing my own mother's story, I am currently an executive producer on projects in production, such as:
· Another Place, a documentary detailing the lives of refugees that resettled throughout Europe, and,
· A relaunch of the hit PBS show, Reading Rainbow, which promotes and celebrates childhood literacy and the positive actions brought about by taking action and promoting focused literacy through Reading Rainbow Live.
As an immigrant adopted from an orphanage in Athens, Greece, I have dedicated much of my life to addressing issues surrounding immigration, displaced children, and social injustice, especially when it comes to women's rights. I am also currently working on my own film, Georgia, which tells the true story of my young single mother forced to give up her "illegitimate" child in Greece.
Growing up in Southern California with my adopted family, I first went on set at the age of 13 for an ABC after-school special, "Mighty Moose and the Quarterback Kid", and knew instantly film was the career for me. I began work as a production assistant on television shows and soon became a post-production supervisor at NBC network. By age 24, I was one of the network's youngest producers at NBC. I have also had the opportunity to learn the huge importance of utilizing social media to increase viewership and awareness and have worked on shows for Facebook/Instagram.
Beyond my production work, I have served two terms on the National Board for the Producers Guild of America, where I am also a part of the International Committee and the AAPI Committee, and am a member of the Producers Guild of Europe, the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, BFI, Academy Circle Member of BAFTA, and the Greek America Foundation.
Through my production talents, I am also passionate about supporting and empowering non profit organizations. Most recently, this passion has led me to help local Los Angeles-based non-profits such as Project Angel Food that prepares and delivers healthy meals to feed people impacted by serious illness, bringing comfort and hope every day; and Fix'n Fidos a pet non-profit that has helped curb over population of pets, and assists in keeping pets safe and in their homes with their owners, by assisting coverage with vet bills and pet food during the recent pandemic and beyond for pet owners who were suddenly out of work.
What has perhaps had the greatest impact on me personally, though, is when I was honored to be tapped to serve as an officer for the Children of War Foundation (COWF). My time there gave me the opportunities to travel to Ukraine twice on behalf of COWF after the recent outbreak of war to supervise and hand-deliver humanitarian medical aid upwards of half a million dollars of medical supplies to two hospitals in Kyiv and Lviv. Further, I was honored to be able to deliver similar aid to a COWF-sponsored run school for refugees on the Jordanian-Syrian border. On all of these humanitarian trips, I was able to use my knowledge of film and storytelling to document the work being done by the local communities and COWF and spread the message of what COWF does in helping refugee children worldwide and supporting their countries in overcoming the debilitating effects of war and its impact on children.
As I grew in my career and life, I never forgot being an orphan from another country. I found myself looking outward more from the U.S. to expand not only my philanthropic work but also my professional work in support of those that had similar circumstances and upbringings.
In 2022, I became an Academy Circle Member of BAFTA. I was very pleased to be able to honor my birth mother and the struggles she went through as a single mother by donating a chair in her honor at the new BAFTA Princess Anne Theatre with my mother's name placed prominently on a theater chair. Honoring my mother in this way is a silent memoriam to her and the other single mothers in Greece who loved their children and were forced to put them up for adoption during a dark time in Greece's past.
I plan to continue creating meaningful content with an international mindset and a domestic approach.
In tandem with producing my own mother's story, I am currently an executive producer on projects in production, such as:
· Another Place, a documentary detailing the lives of refugees that resettled throughout Europe, and,
· A relaunch of the hit PBS show, Reading Rainbow, which promotes and celebrates childhood literacy and the positive actions brought about by taking action and promoting focused literacy through Reading Rainbow Live.