James Goldstone

Prolific television director James Goldstone worked steadily in the television and film industry after completing military service the early 1950s. Starting as a script editor Goldstone moved on to writing before beginning his long directing career, contributing to numerous popular television series including "Route 66," "The Outer Limits," and "Dr. Kildare." He was perhaps best known for directing the second "Star Trek" television pilot at the invitation of the show's creator Gene Roddenberry, before refusing a long-term contract for the series. Goldstone went on to direct another pilot for the classic series "Ironside" and again evaded contractual commitments. In 1968 Goldstone turned his hand to features and over the next decade directed numerous films that ran the gamut from comedy to mystery, including "Red Sky at Morning," the crime caper "The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight" and the mystery "They Only Kill Their Masters." Throughout the 1980s Goldstone settled into directing television specials and mini-series, his most successful, the award-winning television movie, "Kent State" where his interest in quick pacing and editing was one of the earliest examples of the ''thirty-second-attention span'' principle. In 1988 Goldstone relocated to Vermont and, in addition to holding a post as a visiting professor in film at Columbia University, he directed stage productions for the Oldcastle Theatre Company and served as the head of the Vermont Film Commission.