James Kerwin is an American film director, theatre director, and screenwriter. Kerwin, who was born in St. Louis, Missouri, attended Parkway Central High School in Chesterfield, Missouri, has been noted for his Shakespearean adaptations of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cardenio and Venus and Adonis. In 2003 he staged Amber Benson's play Albert Hall in Los Angeles, California. In the early 2000s he was a frequent guest director for Daniel Henning and Noah Wyle's Blank Theatre Company and for Travis Schuldt's Lone Star Ensemble. Other projects include the "sci-fi noir" film Yesterday Was a Lie with Kipleigh Brown and Chase Masterson, which earned a number of prizes on the film festival circuit in 2008 and 2009. He and Brown again collaborated on Star Trek Continues, on which Kerwin served as writer/director from 2014-2017. Kerwin graduated with a film degree from Texas Christian University in 1995 and a minor in astronomy and physics. He served as a lab instructor and guest artist at T.C.U. and the University of Texas at Austin. Kerwin is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Mensa, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.Kerwin's nieces—Elara and Rhea Kerwin—portrayed Summer Newman on The Young and the Restless.