Reed’s credits as a director include the multi-award-winning features Jago - A Life Under Water and Rise of the Warrior Apes. In 2021, Reed received further accolade as the director of My Octopus Teacher, the story of a South African filmmaker who forges an unexpected friendship with an octopus, which became a huge critical and audience success on Netflix and went on to win the Best Documentary Feature Award at the 93rd Academy Awards. Jonny Keeling, Head of BBC Studios Natural History Unit, said: “I’m delighted to be embarking on a collaborative development partnership with James Reed and Matt Houghton, the outstanding creative talents of Underdog Films. “Character and emotional storytelling are at the heart of filmmaking both at the NHU and Underdog Films, so we look forward to developing a number of original, ambitious and compelling natural history features for audiences across the globe. I’m hugely excited to welcome James and Matt’s input and perspectives to the NHU’s creative development process and can’t wait to start working with them.” James Reed, Managing Director, Underdog Films, said: “We are very excited to get into this with the NHU. They’ve been at the forefront of natural history film-making for decades and their further growth in the feature doc market will be a fantastic development for the industry as a whole.” Matt Houghton, Underdog Films, adds: “Collaboration and successful partnerships are a key part of Underdog Films’ approach to filmmaking and we’re delighted to be working with the talented storytellers of the NHU. The team has exciting, ambitious plans and we’re looking forward to contributing to stories that will be entertaining, enlightening and thought-provoking.”
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Biography from TMDB.
- Director, producer and writer
- 11 on MovieCove · 14 credits in all
What are James Reed's films like?
Across their 10 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Ideas and Society.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 7
Light 6 · Serious 0 · Dark 1
Grounded 5 · Stylized 2 · Heightened 0
Gentle 5 · Charged 1 · Intense 1
Steady 6 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 3 · Funny 0
Slow burn 6 · Even-paced 1 · Relentless 0
Casual 5 · Engaged 1 · Full focus 1
Easy watch 4 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 6 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 0
Moods and endings
- Happy3
- Bittersweet6
- Ambiguous1
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch James Reed's films?
As of October 24, 2026, all 11 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on Netflix (4).
- discovery+
Subscription and free streaming for James Reed's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
14 credits, 11 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Shark Whisperer(2025)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all films
Life on the Edge (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2024)
Chimp Empire(2023)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all shows
Frozen Planet II(2022)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all shows
Patrick and the Whale(2022)
Midcredits score: 85th percentile of all films
My Octopus Teacher(2020)
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Animal Impossible(2020)
Midcredits score: 67th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)
Wild Korea (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2019)
Rise of the Warrior Apes(2017)
Midcredits score: 95th percentile of all films
Jago: A Life Underwater (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)
Bears(2014)
Midcredits score: 90th percentile of all films
Betty White Goes Wild(2013)
Midcredits score: 83rd percentile of all films
Chimpanzee(2011)
Midcredits score: 82nd percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 10 titles from 2013 to 2026.
Biggest box office
Chimpanzee (2011)
Highest rated
Frozen Planet II (2022)
Most popular right now
My Octopus Teacher (2020)
Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.
How do James Reed's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 88th percentile, the median of all 8; across their 7 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 86th percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up10
- 50th to 74th1
Shape of the crowd
7 of their 11 titles are Universally Loved.
- Universally Loved7
- Cult Classic1
- Crowd Pleaser2
- Mixed1
Reviewers score the atmosphere 82/100 and the pacing 56/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does James Reed work with?
People who share at least 2 of James Reed's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Alastair Fothergill shares the most, 3.
Directors
- Alastair FothergillShared titles: A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026), Bears (2014), Chimpanzee (2011)See all 3 shared titles with Alastair Fothergill
- James Santo ReedShared titles: Animal Impossible (2020), Betty White Goes Wild (2013)See all 2 shared titles with James Santo Reed
Actors
- David AttenboroughShared titles: A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026), Frozen Planet II (2022)See all 2 shared titles with David Attenborough
Cinematographers and editors
- Ben CherryShared titles: A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026), Chimp Empire (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Ben Cherry
- Benjamin SaddShared titles: Chimp Empire (2023), Rise of the Warrior Apes (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Benjamin Sadd
- Dan SchwalmShared titles: Chimp Empire (2023), My Octopus Teacher (2020)See all 2 shared titles with Dan Schwalm
- Sam RogersShared titles: Chimp Empire (2023), Rise of the Warrior Apes (2017)See all 2 shared titles with Sam Rogers
Producers
- Donald DowdShared titles: Bears (2014), Chimpanzee (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Donald Dowd
Mixed roles
- Callum WebsterShared titles: A Gorilla Story: Told by David Attenborough (2026), Chimp Empire (2023)See all 2 shared titles with Callum Webster