Known for Acting
James Finley Ransone III (June 2, 1979 – December 19, 2025) was an American actor and musician. He was best known for his roles as Ziggy Sobotka in the second season of the drama series The Wire, United States Marine Corps Cpl. Josh Ray Person in the war drama miniseries Generation Kill (2008), The Deputy in the supernatural horror films Sinister (2012) and Sinister 2 (2015), Chester in Tangerine (2015), the adult Eddie Kaspbrak in It Chapter Two (2019), and Max in The Black Phone movies. Description above from the Wikipedia article James Ransone, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
June 2, 1979
Died
December 19, 2025 (age 46)
Birthplace
Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Filmography
58 films, 17 shows


Black Phone 2
2025 · 1h 54m
country: United States
Four years after defeating The Grabber, Finney Blake is struggling with life after captivity. When his younger sister Gwen begins receiving calls in her dreams from the Black Phone and seeing disturbing visions of three boys being stalked at a winter camp, the siblings become determined to solve the mystery and confront a killer who has grown more powerful in death and more significant to them than either could imagine.


V/H/S/85
2023 · 1h 51m
country: Mexico
Unveiled through a made-for-TV documentary, five chilling tales of found footage horror emerge to take viewers on a gore-filled journey through the grim underbelly of the forgotten 1980s.


Merry F*cking Christmas: The Making of Tangerine
2022 · 1h 13m
country: United Kingdom
A feature-length documentary going behind-the-scenes on the making of the 2015 film Tangerine.


The Black Phone
2022 · 1h 43m
country: United States
Finney Blake, a shy but clever 13-year-old boy, is abducted by a sadistic killer and trapped in a soundproof basement where screaming is of little use. When a disconnected phone on the wall begins to ring, Finney discovers that he can hear the voices of the killer’s previous victims. And they are dead set on making sure that what happened to them doesn’t happen to Finney.


Small Engine Repair
2021 · 1h 42m
country: United States
The seemingly casual reunion of three old friends at an out-of-the-way repair shop masks a hidden agenda fuelled by the arrival of a privileged young yuppie.


What We Found
2020 · 1h 50m
country: United States
Close friends Marcus and Holly begin their freshman year at a tough public high school in Baltimore County, Maryland. When Cassie, a well liked senior at the school, disappears suspiciously, both of their lives change forever. Together, will they find out what happened to Cassie? And after a dramatic confrontation, will any of them ever be the same?


The Summers of It - Chapter Two: It Ends
2019 · 40m
country: United States
This documentary focuses on the actors and their journey over two summers to create the remake to the original IT, by Stephen King. The documentary originally released as bonus material, bundled with IT: Chapter Two.


It Chapter Two
2019 · 2h 49m
country: United States
27 years after overcoming the malevolent supernatural entity Pennywise, the former members of the Losers' Club, who have grown up and moved away from Derry, are brought back together by a devastating phone call.


Captive State
2019 · 1h 50m
country: United States
Nearly a decade after occupation by an extraterrestrial force, the lives of a Chicago neighborhood on both sides of the conflict are explored. In a working-class Chicago neighborhood occupied by an alien force for nine years, increased surveillance and the restriction of civil rights have given rise to an authoritarian system -- and dissent among the populace.


Fish in the Sea
2018 · 5m
country: Unknown
James Ransone and Ashley Smith star in this short.


Tough Love
2018 · 15m
country: Unknown
A couple on a date are trapped in a car and experience a lifetime of marriage over the course of one night.


Doulo
2018 · 15m
country: Unknown
Danny is recently out of prison and trying to make it as a male doula. Despite receiving certification through the mail, he combats sexism and a profound lack of trust in his abilities.


Family Blood
2018 · 1h 32m
country: United States
Ellie, a recovering drug addict, has just moved to a new city with her two teenage children. She has struggled to stay sober in the past and is determined to make it work this time, finding a stable job and regularly attending her meetings. Unfortunately, new friends, a new job, and the chance of a new life, can’t keep Ellie from slipping once again. Her life changes when she meets Christopher – a different kind of addict – which forces her daughter and son to accept a new version of Ellie.


Write When You Get Work
2018 · 1h 39m
country: Unknown
Ruth Duffy is getting by on an assistant's salary at a pricey school for girls in Manhattan, managing to move beyond the trouble and loss of her teenage years. Jonny Collins is working local jobs near the Throgs Neck Bridge in the Bronx. When they cross paths after years apart, Jonny is as consumed with Ruth as he was in their high school days, and he infiltrates her life for love and profit.


The Clapper
2018 · 1h 29m
country: United States
Eddie Krumble works as a paid audience member for infomercials and experiences a whirlwind of overnight fame after a late-night talk show host publicizes his frequent infomercial appearances.


It Happened in L.A.
2017 · 1h 37m
country: Unknown
Annette might be judgmental, critical, and a total perfectionist—but only of the most charming variety. When she suddenly perceives that her relationship with her boyfriend, Elliot, is inferior to all the happy coupledom she sees among her friends, she decides they need to break up. Launched into the LA dating scene, where film industry jobs, old school bars, and elitist consumerism are the norm, Annette begins to realize that maybe meeting some cool new guy isn’t going to lead her to personal fulfillment.


Gemini
2017 · 1h 33m
country: United States
A heinous crime tests the complex relationship between a tenacious personal assistant and her Hollywood starlet boss. As the assistant travels across Los Angeles to unravel the mystery, she must stay one step ahead of a determined policeman and confront her own understanding of friendship, truth and celebrity.


In a Valley of Violence
2016 · 1h 44m
country: United States
The story of a drifter named Paul who arrives in a small town seeking revenge on the thugs who murdered his friend. Sisters Mary Anne and Ellen, who run the town's hotel, help Paul in his quest for vengeance.


Light Up the Night
2016 · 17m
country: United States
Light Up the Night is an analog science-fiction short film set in an Orwellian, futuristic 1980s. The story tells the tensions flaring between rebellious citizens and robotic law enforcement. We are introduced to two dissidents as they take aim at the city's looming, panoptic control tower, while local band The Protomen take the stage amidst the action, inciting unrest as they narrate the struggle.


Mr. Right
2016 · 1h 35m
country: United States
A girl falls for the "perfect" guy, who happens to have a very fatal flaw: he's a hitman on the run from the crime cartels who employ him.


Conventional
2015 · 9m
country: United States
A horror film actress deals with her fall from stardom.


Fun Size Horror: Volume Two
2015 · 1h 14m
country: United States
A collection of gut-twisting and nerve-shredding tales, all Frankstein’d together to form a feature-length monster of the best and bloodiest in short-film horror.


Sinister 2
2015 · 1h 37m
country: Canada
A young mother and her twin sons move into a rural house that's marked for death.


Tangerine
2015 · 1h 27m
country: United States
It's Christmas Eve in Tinseltown and Sin-Dee is back on the block. Upon hearing that her pimp boyfriend hasn't been faithful during the 28 days she was locked up, the working girl and her best friend, Alexandra, embark on a mission to get to the bottom of the scandalous rumor. Their rip-roaring odyssey leads them through various subcultures of Los Angeles, including an Armenian family dealing with their own repercussions of infidelity.


Bloomin Mud Shuffle
2015 · 1h 15m
country: United States
Middle-aged Lonnie hasn't done much since he graduated high school. His only shot at greatness is to take his relationship to the next level.


The Timber
2015 · 1h 21m
country: United States
In the wild west, two brothers embark on a journey to collect a bounty in a desperate attempt to save their home: but what they find along the way is more than they bargained for.


Fruits De Mer
2014 · 6m
country: United States
A frazzled adulteress played by Parisian beauty Zoë Le Ber wakes up in the familiar surroundings of Bar Chateau Marmont, only to find herself trapped in a prank at the hands of her restaurant-owner lover, Fred.


Cymbeline
2014 · 1h 37m
country: United States
War erupts between dirty cops and outlaw bikers as a drug kingpin tries to protect his empire.


Kristy
2014 · 1h 25m
country: United States
When a college girl who is alone on campus over the Thanksgiving break is targeted by a group of outcasts, she must conquer her deepest fears to outwit them and fight back.


This American Life: Live at BAM
2014 · 1h 49m
country: United States
It’s This American Life’s wildest, most ambitious live show ever! Nearly 50 actors, singers, dancers, musicians and comedians joined Ira Glass onstage at the Brooklyn Academy of Music's Opera House on June 7th, 2014 to try some things they'd never tried before. The result? Journalism turned into opera, into plays, into a Broadway musical. Comedy from Mike Birbiglia, and SNL’s Sasheer Zamata. Songs from Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields. Dance from Monica Bill Barnes & Company.


Granted!
2014 · 20m
country: Unknown
Short Film directed by Melanie Vesey


False True Love
2014 · 4m
country: Unknown
"False True Love" is a music video for Emily Sundblad's song by the same name, performed with Matt Sweeney, and starring Sundblad, Sweeney, and James Ransone.


Electric Slide
2014 · 1h 35m
country: United States
A heightened homage to the City of Angels, Electric Slide riffs on the real-life story of Eddie Dodson, the notorious "Gentleman Bank Robber." With a debonair sophistication and a serious talent for flirt, Dodson managed to lure money from mesmerized female tellers at over 60 banks during an epic spree in the 1980s.


Oldboy
2013 · 1h 44m
country: United States
A man has only three and a half days and limited resources to discover why he was imprisoned in a nondescript room for 20 years without any explanation.


The Man Who Came Out Only at Night
2013 · 15m
country: United States
In this retelling of an Italian folktale, a man marries the youngest of three sisters and shares a very strange secret with her on their wedding night.


Empire State
2013 · 1h 34m
country: United States
After failing to get into the police academy, Chris Potamitis settles for a security guard job with an armoured truck company. After he makes the mistake of mentioning the company's lax security to his best friend, He's unwittingly drawn into an elaborate scheme to rob the abundant amounts of cash being stored on their premises—resulting in the largest cash heist in U.S.history.


Broken City
2013 · 1h 49m
country: United States
In a broken city rife with injustice, ex-cop Billy Taggart seeks redemption and revenge after being double-crossed and then framed by its most powerful figure, the mayor. Billy's relentless pursuit of justice, matched only by his streetwise toughness, makes him an unstoppable force - and the mayor's worst nightmare.


Year of the Rat
2013 · 9m
country: Unknown
A conversation between one man and nine one night stands.


Starlet
2012 · 1h 43m
country: United States
An unlikely friendship forms between 21 year-old Jane and the elderly Sadie after Jane discovers a hidden stash of money inside an object at Sadie's yard sale.


Sinister
2012 · 1h 50m
country: Canada
True-crime writer Ellison Oswalt is in a slump; he hasn't had a best seller in more than 10 years and is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So, when he discovers the existence of a snuff film showing the deaths of a family, he vows to solve the mystery. He moves his own family into the victims' home and gets to work. However, when old film footage and other clues hint at the presence of a supernatural force, Ellison learns that living in the house may be fatal.


Red Hook Summer
2012 · 2h 5m
country: United States
When his mom deposits him at the Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn to spend the summer with the grandfather he’s never met, young Flik may as well have landed on Mars. Fresh from his cushy life in Atlanta, he’s bored and friendless, and his strict grandfather, Enoch, a firebrand preacher, is bent on getting him to accept Jesus Christ as his personal savior. Only Chazz, the feisty girl from church, provides a diversion from the drudgery. As hot summer simmers and Sunday mornings brim with Enoch’s operatic sermons, things turn anything but dull as people’s conflicting agendas collide.


The Lie
2011 · 1h 20m
country: Unknown
A man's life is altered unexpectedly after telling a lie to get out of work.


The Son of No One
2011 · 1h 30m
country: United States
A rookie cop is assigned to the 118 Precinct in the same district where he grew up. The Precinct Captain starts receiving letters about two unsolved murders that happened many years ago in the housing projects when the rookie cop was just a kid. These letters bring back bad memories and old secrets that begin to threaten his career and break up his family.


The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll
2011 · 1h 32m
country: United States
In this film, childhood friends come face to face with the demons of rock and roll (lust, drugs, and passion) on a cross-country road trip that compels them to face their past, present, and future. Rocker Spyder, whose debut album was a huge hit saw his follow-on album bomb, causing him to retreat to his small hometown and give up. Seven years later, 27-year-old Spyder reconnects with his long-lost best friend and writer of his debut album Eric, son of a late great punk rock guitar legend, who has long settled into the sedate life of a suburban middle school music teacher. The reunion forces the two to recall their youthful ambitions and re-examine the choices they've made.


The Next Three Days
2010 · 2h 13m
country: United States
Life seems perfect for John Brennan until his wife, Lara, is arrested for a murder she says she didn’t commit. Three years into her sentence, John is struggling to hold his family together, raising their son and teaching at college while he pursues every means available to prove her innocence. With the rejection of their final appeal, Lara becomes suicidal and John decides there is only one possible, bearable solution: to break his wife out of prison.


Freakonomics
2010 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Some of the world's most innovative documentary filmmakers will explore the hidden side of everything.


Making Generation Kill
2008 · 25m
country: United States
A behind the scenes look at HBO's critically acclaimed reality-based seven part miniseries 'Generation Kill' about some marines which was apart of the Iraqi invasion in 2003. You'll get an inside look in how the series was made.


Prom Night
2008 · 1h 29m
country: Canada
Donna's senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, though a sadistic killer from her past has different plans for her and her friends.


Puccini for Beginners
2006 · 1h 22m
country: United States
When her inability to commit leads to a breakup with her girlfriend, opera-loving writer Allegra winds up in the bed of amiable professor Philip. He is so smitten with Allegra that he dumps his lover, Grace, and convinces Allegra to continue their affair. When Allegra meets Grace, sparks fly, and she begins a parallel romance, unaware that her new lover is the woman Philip left to be with her.


Inside Man
2006 · 2h 9m
country: United States
When an armed, masked gang enter a Manhattan bank, lock the doors and take hostages, the detective assigned to effect their release enters negotiations preoccupied with corruption charges he is facing.


The Good Humor Man
2005 · 1h 52m
country: United States
A mischievous high school sophomore faces a conflict of conscience vs. character when his best friend becomes linked to the death of a youth from another clique in suburban Middle America circa '76.


Malachance
2004 · 1h 27m
country: United States
MALACHANCE tells the tragic story of Mika (James Ransone) and his cohorts; the film was shot in Los Angeles and on location in New Orleans and NYC.


Downtown: A Street Tale
2004 · 1h 43m
country: United States
A group of street kids find that the only way to make it through the day is to hold onto their dreams while their reality is eating out of dumpsters, turning tricks and squatting in abandoned buildings.


A Dirty Shame
2004 · 1h 29m
country: United States
Sylvia Stickles runs a convenience store with her husband and mother-in-law. One day, Sylvia is hit on the head and transforms from an uptight prude to a sex-crazed lunatic. As she goes on a rampage through town, Sylvia attracts the attention of Ray Ray, a sexual healer and tow truck driver in search of the world's greatest orgasm. Their sexual revolution, however, causes a class war in their tiny Baltimore community.


Ken Park
2003 · 1h 37m
country: United States
Teen skater Ken Park (nicknamed Krap Nek; his name spelled and pronounced backward) kills himself at a Visalia skate park; his death bookends the lives of four other young people who knew him: Shawn, the most conventional; Tate brims with psychotic rage; Claude is habitually harassed by his brutish father and coddled, rather uncomfortably, by his enormously pregnant mother; and Peaches looks after her devoutly religious father, but yearns for freedom. They're all rather tight, or so they claim.


Nola
2003 · 1h 37m
country: United States
An urban fairy tale-romantic comedy, in which Nola, an aspiring songwriter, leaves an abusive Kansas home and journeys to New York to find her biological father. Once there, she finds more than she expected.


Fan Mail
2003 · 25m
country: United States
A girl's obsession with a rock star ends with an unfortunate choice.


The American Astronaut
2001 · 1h 32m
country: United States
Samual Curtis's first mission in this bizarre science fiction musical comedy requires him to take a cat to a saloon on an asteroid. There, he meets his former dance partner (the Blueberry Pirate) and collects his payment: a device capable of producing a Real Live Girl.