Raised in Washington, DC, Tatiana Blackington James first trained as a ballet dancer. When an injury ended her career, she pivoted to writing and filmmaking. Inspired by the films of Jean-Jacques Beineix, she studied both French and Russian at New York University and at l’Université Paris Nanterre, then worked her way through graduate school at the University of Southern California by teaching French at the undergraduate level.
Reinvention after loss is a recurring theme in her work and, true to her DC roots, she is fascinated by the intersection of the personal and the political. Once branded an “upstart scribe” by Variety, Tatiana has written screenplays for Universal, Paramount, HBO and CBS, often about larger-than-life historical characters such as Albert Einstein and Mata Hari, in addition to a slate of award-winning independent films (The Narrows, Homologies, and Lawyered Up, which she also directed).
Tatiana is a member of the Writers Guild of America, the Alliance of
Women Directors, and a recipient of numerous fellowships from Stowe, Cinestory, and the eQuinoxe International Screenwriters Workshop.
Recently, she was selected for the 2026 Emerging Filmmakers Showcase at the American Pavilion in Cannes for her film, Lawyered Up, which also won Best Screenplay at Diversity in Cannes.
She lives with her husband, Todd James, in Santa Monica, where they raised two sons, Nico and Luke, along with two rather demanding jindos.
