James Richardson is CEO and co-founder of amersia, which builds AI infrastructure for the creative industries. Its platform, wovenstudio.ai, is built by filmmakers, for filmmakers. It brings leading AI models into professional workflows across development, pre-production, production, post-production and marketing, and connects those models with the assets, teams, versions, review and approvals a production needs. Amersia starts with the creative or budget problem a team needs to solve, and creative teams stay in control. Woven is being used to make Critterz, a family animated feature from the writers of Paddington in Peru so the demands of making a film directly shape what is built.

James co-founded Vertigo Films in 2002 and built it over more than two decades into one of the UK's leading independent studios, alongside Vertigo Releasing (distribution), Protagonist Pictures (international sales) and Post Republic (post-production and VFX). He has produced more than 35 feature films, including Monsters, Bronson, It's All Gone Pete Tong, StreetDance 3D, The Football Factory and The Sweeney. Vertigo has distributed more than 100 others. He has also executive produced over 100 hours of high-end television, including Britannia for Sky.

Discovering talent and helping ambitious stories get made has always been central to his work, having helped launch the careers of some of the biggest directors and actors in Hollywood including Gareth Edwards (Star Wars Rogue One) and Tom Hardy (The Dark Knight Rises) and the same instinct is behind amersia and Woven.