James A. Goins, Director
James A. Goins is known for being a modern-day Renaissance man. James has established himself as an inventive and musically sensitive director of Theatre, Musicals, and Film. He is a freelance director whose credits include Of Mice and Men, Jesus Christ Superstar, Raisin in the Sun, Taming of the Shrew, Equus, 12 Angry Jurors, and Proof, to name a few. His plays and musicals have been workshopped or produced at the Mark Taper Forum Annex, the Laity Theatre Company, New Musicals, Inc., and the Chameleon Theatre Circle. James brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to every project he works on. James is a member of BMI, The Dramatist Guild of America, The American Composers Forum, The Playwrights Center, The National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc., Composers Diversity Collective, Theatre West, The Society of Composers & Lyricist, and the American Society of Music Arrangers and Composers. He is the Executive Director of the Laity Institute of the Arts, a Private Arts Foundation that teaches children and adults the visual and performing arts. James is also an accomplished playwright and composer. He learned to hone his skills in musical theatre through New Musicals, Inc.
He studied music under Emmy Award-winning and Academy Award-nominated composers such as Gerald Fried (Roots, Roots: The Next Generation, Star Trek, Napoleon, and Josephine), Thomas Richard Sharp (When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, Aladdin, Little Mermaid), Jerry Grant (Quantum Leap, Hired to Kill, Hunter) and composition under Dr. Russel Steinberg one of America's leading Neo-Classical composer, conductor and music educators. He was also the subject of an original autobiographical television pilot written by Jeffrey Alan Fiskin and produced by Linda Obst and Stacey Sher called "Homeboyz." This story dealt with the care and nurturing of hardened gang members and student dropouts in Watts and South-Central Los Angeles in the 1990s. He has written a TV Sci-Fi pilot (The Guardian) and a TV Drama pilot, which he adapted into a feature-length screenplay, "2 Much 4 Words," for VEL Films LLC, his indie film company. He has released four CDs and a long-awaited concept recording of "This Time and Age," A New Rock Musical. (Think Jesus Christ Superstar meets LOTR) which, in his words, is his "artistic love letter to Andrew Lloyd Weber and Tim Rice's seminal work." His music style covers musical genres such as Classical, Instrumental, Jazz, Musical Theatre, Pop, Orchestral, Soundtrack (Film Scoring), and Soul. James has a BA in Theatre from California State University Dominguez Hills. He later attended UCLA, receiving his Teaching Credential and completing his film scoring training from UCLA's Film Scoring program. James holds an Executive MBA from Grand Canyon University and is the founder and co-owner of SignalHarmony LLC, an Internet Business Development Firm. He has been directly or indirectly involved in the entertainment industry for over 30 years.