Inside the Producer & Director Partnership on THE WHISPER MAN

His feature film directing debut Coming Home in the Dark premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2021 to great acclaim, followed by a global festival tour. His sophomore feature The Rule of Jenny Pen starring John Lithgow and Geoffrey Rush, was critically acclaimed, winning multiple awards at the 2024 Fantastic Festival and Sitges Film Festival among others before landing on Shudder.

James’ next feature, The Whisper Man, from the novel by Alex North, stars Robert De Niro, Michelle Monaghan and Adam Scott for AGBO Productions and Netflix. It will premiere on the platform August 2026. He is currently in post-production on When Darkness Loves Us adapted from the novella by Elizabeth Engstrom and starring Emilia Clarke, Victoria Pedretti and Natasha McElhone.

James is currently working on a slate of features in the US including adaptations of Stephen King’s Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream for the Russo Brother’s AGBO Productions, Max Brook’s Devolution and Grady Hendrix’ How To Sell A Haunted House, for Legendary Studios and Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures, and an adaptation of Benjamin Marra’s graphic novel Night Business for Andy and Barbara Muschietti’s Nocturna.

He attended the Venice Biennale Cinema College as one of 12 teams selected worldwide. He was also one of 15 director/producers selected for the Torino Film Festivals inaugural Up & Coming Programme, showcasing talents from around the world.

From 2006-2013 he served as Artistic Director and Chief Executive of national Maori theatre company Taki Rua Productions, developing and touring New Zealand works both nationally and internationally.

James is a graduate of Victoria University and Toi Whakaari: New Zealand Drama School. He has served internships with acclaimed theatre company The Wooster Group in New York.

He is represented by CAA and UNTITLED ENTERTAINMENT.

As Chief Creative Officer of AGBO, Angela Russo Otstot oversees the independent studio’s entire creative slate, leading the development and production of films, series, animation, and video game content. During her eight-year creative tenure, AGBO has delivered sixteen #1 releases, many of which shattered records for some of the industry’s top distributors, including Netflix, Amazon, and Disney. Under her creative leadership, AGBO has emerged as a defining force in global, interconnected storytelling—pioneering expansive narrative universes that seamlessly traverse multiple forms of media.

Russo-Otstot’s upcoming producing credits include Netflix’s The Whisper Man (starring Robert De Niro, Adam Scott, and Michelle Monaghan); Lionsgate’s John Rambo (starring Noah Centineo, directed by Jalmari Helander); Netflix’s Korean-language feature Tygo (starring Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal),and Extraction 3 (starring Chris Hemsworth, Idris Elba, and Golshifteh Farahani). She also executive produces Netflix’s series Mercenary (starring Omar Sy, Boyd Holbrook, and Natalie Dormer) and serves as co-executive producer on Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Recently, Russo-Otstot executive produced two seasons of Amazon’s Citadel, the platform’s #2 title of all time (starring Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, and Stanley Tucci). She additionally oversaw the franchise’s local-language expansions in Italy and India in partnership with Cattleya and directors DK & Raj. Her other producing credits include three of Netflix’s ten most-viewed films ever: Extraction and Extraction 2 (starring Chris Hemsworth, directed by Sam Hargrave), and The Gray Man (starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, directed by the Russo Brothers). She is also a producer on The Electric State (starring Millie Bobby Brown and Chris Pratt, directed by the Russo Brothers), which premiered at #1 globally on Netflix in 2025.

Alongside AGBO’s large-scale commercial successes, Russo-Otstot remains deeply committed to championing emerging voices through independent filmmaking under the company’s “Gozie Agbo” banner. In this capacity, she executive produced IFC’s Sundance breakout Relic, which earned a National Board of Review “Top 10 Film of 2020” designation, as well as A24’s The Legend of Ochi. Before assuming the role of Chief Creative Officer, Russo-Otstot served as AGBO’s President of Creative and previously as Senior Vice President of Story. In those roles, she contributed creatively to a wide array of film and television projects, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, which went on to become A24’s highest-grossing film and seven-time Academy Award winner, including Best Picture. She later co-wrote and executive produced Cherry, directed by the Russos and starring Tom Holland, which was acquired by Apple TV.

Russo-Otstot began her career by selling an original pilot to HBO at age 25, after which she spent a decade writing and producing multiple television series, including FX’s critically acclaimed The Shield. A WGA member and accomplished screenwriter, she also taught screenwriting and playwriting at Case Western Reserve University and the Cleveland Institute of Art, mentoring the next generation of storytellers.

Beyond her creative work at AGBO, Russo-Otstot is a champion for industry growth and inclusion. She co-founded and hosts the Russo Brothers Italian American Filmmaker Forum (RBIAFF), which has awarded over $450,000 in grants to 52 filmmakers. Under her leadership, AGBO has committed over $250,000 to Slamdance Film Festival and established partnerships with the Group Effort Initiative, Women in Film, and the Downtown Midnight Mission. She also spearheads AGBold, an annual event celebrating influential women in entertainment, and served as a Jury lead for the PGA’s 2026 Innovation Award.

Kassee Whiting is the EVP of Film and Television at AGBO. Among her many film and TV projects, Kassee was a Producer on the film The Whisper Man with Netflix, starring Robert DeNiro and Adam Scott, based on the book by Alex North. She also produced Amazon’s The Bluff, starring Priyanka Chopra and Karl Urban. Some upcoming projects that Kassee is overseeing are AGBO titles The Reckoner with Lionsgate and Free Willy reboot with Warner Bros. 

Prior to joining AGBO, Kassee was at Open Road Entertainment where she oversaw the production and acquisition of their slate including Dope, Mother’s Day, Bleed for This, Marshall, Home Again and the Academy Award-winning Best Picture film Spotlight. Previously, she was in post-production and physical production at Summit Entertainment working on The Twilight Saga films, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, and Warm Bodies among others. Kassee holds an MFA in Film and Television Production from NYU.

Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging.

She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV.

Kat is a Stowe Story Lab SAGIndie Fellow and a participant in the BlackMagic Collective Emerging Filmmakers Initiative. In 2021, she founded the Black Film Challenge, a project that showcases filmmakers of African descent and the movies they create.

She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in Cinematography and has literary representation with Yak Yak Mgmt.