James Blagden began his career as an illustrator, finding his way into animation and directing with the experimental short Dock Ellis & The LSD No-No. Since then Blagden has directed and contributed animation to several documentaries and commercial campaigns, while continuing to work on his own projects. In 2019, his co-directorial effort with Roni Moore, a documentary feature about Highschool Prom in Flint MI (Midnight in Paris), became a festival stand-out and was included in "The Contenders", MOMA's year end survey of top releases and obscure gems.