Born in 1969 in New York City, James Gray is an American film director and screenwriter. He grew up in Queens, and attended the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television. At the age of 25, Gray made his directorial debut with Little Odessa (1994), a critically acclaimed film, which received a Silver Lion at the 51st Venice International Film Festival. His later works, We Own the Night (2007), Two Lovers (2008), and The Immigrant (2013) were all selected to compete in the Cannes Film Festival, among other prestigious film festivals around the world. His latest film Ad Astra (2019) had its world premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival.