James Rice was born on November 14, 1970 in Schomberg, Ontario, Canada to Joan Rice (née Rae) and Ken Rice, who owned a the feed business in Caledon East. James was introduced into the film business by legendary filmmaker Norman Jewison who invited James and his family to the set of Agnes of God, a film he was making with Jane Fonda, Anne Bancroft and Meg Tilly. It was from this experience that James' love for film was cemented. Rice is a regular supporter of Norman Jewison's Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies and he is passionate about helping young filmmakers, actors, writers and producers get a leg up in the movie business. In addition to supporting the Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies, James has been supporting the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for over 30 years. James earned a degree in Radio and Television Arts at Ryerson University in 1992. During his time in the program, he got his first taste of producing. He produced an award-winning short film for the 125th Celebration of Canada. The film was honoured at a gala event and the film was added to the National Museum of Canada. He went on to write and produce commercials and corporate videos in the 1990s while spending time travelling around the world. Between 2012 and 2015, Rice produced, created and co-authored a series of digital and interactive books that brought his love of the new media together with film and writing. The series went on to win a Digital Book Award in New York City where he was interviewed at CNN. Rice was also honoured with Apple's iBooks Author Award in Nashville for his significant contribution to this new form of digital media. Rice hosts a weekly podcast series called The James Rice Show.