Long before voicing the role of Prince Sidon in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Jamie Mortellaro spent his college internships at the Oprah Winfrey Show and Harpo Productions where he booked audience members and guests for the show. His duties also included writing and producing promotional segments for the Oprah Winfrey Show and the show’s affiliates. He was then recruited as a producer and then copywriter at Leo Burnett Advertising in Chicago, Illinois. During his ten years there he established campaigns for many companies including; Miller Brewing, Proctor & Gamble, Kraft, McDonalds, GM, Reebok, and Nintendo to name a few. James is a member of the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and has directed numerous live action commercials for high profile companies such as Disney, Nintendo, FOX Television, McDonalds, Orbitz, DeLL, Kellogg’s, and Reebok.
Along with commercials, James has directed some of the most successful billion dollar video game franchises in the world. He has cast, directed motion capture and voice-over for franchises such as the Halo 4 & 5, Hitman Absolution & Hitman 2016, Final Fantasy 13.3, 14, Mobius and Kingsglaive, along with his latest games Horizon Zero Dawn and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. He also has game writing credits for the Hitman franchise, Let it Die, and a two more soon to be released titles.
In addition to advertising and directing, James has an extensive improv background having graduated from the prestigious Second City Improvisational Center in Chicago. He was also a founding member of Theater Sports in Chicago. On the feature film front, James wrote and directed two straight to video/DVD feature films. The first, a mockumentary, ‘Murder in the Heartland: The search for Video X.’ The second, a reality thriller, ‘Video X: The Dwayne and Darla-Jean Story.’ James also co-wrote and was a producer on the theatrically released animated feature film ‘Back to the Sea’ produced in China for worldwide distribution.