James Duval was born in the Midwest then, in 1970, moved with his family to Alaska by driving the Alcan Highway through Canada in a station wagon with fourteen people. He was raised in Fairbanks where he spent most of his younger years reading, writing and playing the violin. After graduating high school, he spent a year and half working with the Spanish speaking community of East Los Angeles, as a volunteer for the LDS Church.

James has been driven by the desire to create for as long as his parents can remember. From theater, road shows, writing and music he has spent most of his life being a creator and encouraging others to do the same.

In 1991 he moved to San Francisco to make movies. While at San Francisco State, he met Mark Lillig and the two of them decided to step away from a film education and into the actual practice of making movies. In 1996, they formed Independent Image Entertainment (IIE) with Tyler Ross and Richard Scott.

In 2004, after working on a project entitled Wrestling Days, two young filmmakers Danny Torres and Scott Hayman joined the IIE team. In late 2005 James Duval, Danny Torres, Scott Hayman, Mark R. Lillig, Tyler Ross and Richard Scott formed Continuum Pictures in Los Angeles.

Since the formation of Continuum Pictures, James Duval has produced many features, including Mano a Mano, Three Bad Men, Convict, The Absents, and others here in the US and internationally.

Through his experiences in life, James has been given the patience, time and opportunity to fall in love with movies and the people who make them while always giving credit to those films and people who inspired him.