James Redford has written screenplays for various studios and production companies including Universal Pictures, Blackbird films, and South Fork Pictures. The Acting Thing, for which he wrote the screenplay, was named best comedic short film at the Houston Film Festival and premiered on the Sundance Channel. He produced The Kindness of Strangers, which aired on HBO and won the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival as well as Best Documentary at the Chicago Alternative Film Festival. Redford's recent credits include the original script for Xavier Koller's rodeo drama Ring of Fire starring Kiefer Sutherland, Daryl Hannah, and Pete Postlethwaite.

Redford was Writer-in-Residence at the New Harmony Project in New Hampshire, and he has been a writer and correspondent for Rolling Stock Literary Review. Redford is also the founder and president of the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness. Founded in 1995, two years after he received a liver transplant, the nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating the public through film, educational outreach, and the Web about the need for organ and tissue donation. He holds a Bachelor's degree in creative writing and film from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and a Master's degree in literature from Northwestern University.