James Edmund Datri

Datri grew up in New York City and the San Francisco Bay Area, and graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz (1989) and Harvard Law School (1992). He is co-founder of Miller/Datri Entertainment (whose motion picture production division is Miller/Datri Pictures) and was previously a partner at one of the entertainment industry's most prominent law firms (Manatt, Phelps & Phillips). In 2008 he was named president & CEO of the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the only business league in the U.S. encompassing all segments of the entertainment, media and advertising universe, with members including CAA, Viacom/Paramount Pictures, The Walt Disney Company, and ICM Partners, as well as many of the world's most prominent brands. He instituted the President's Award at the Advertising Hall of Fame, whose recipients include actors Robert De Niro and Michael J. Fox. In 2020 he was named CEO of the American Society of Media Photographers (ASMP), the trade association for the leading photographers across the worlds of advertising, magazines, photojournalism, sports, fashion, entertainment, and video/film. Before his career in media, he served as executive director of the Democratic Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives, during which time he was named five times to Roll Call's "Fabulous Fifty" list of the 50 most influential and powerful strategists on Capitol Hill. He has served on multiple arts and media boards including the advisory board of the Annapolis Film Festival, and the board of directors of the Ad Council.