James Drake
Welcome to the official website of James Drake – entrepreneur, philanthropist, science publisher, author and portrait artist.
AI London Festival 2026
Our Latest Awards
Our films continue to gain international recognition for combining compelling storytelling with cutting-edge AI filmmaking.
The Little Prince was awarded Best Short Animation at the SIAFF – Korean International AI Film Festival in Seoul, where our Creative Director, Thomas Righini Carrington, accepted the award on behalf of the team.
More recently, The Daughter Who Saved de Gaulle received the Best Diversity & Inclusion Movie award at the AIMA Mallorca AI Film Festival, recognising its powerful story and its thoughtful exploration of humanity, resilience and inclusion through AI-driven cinema.
These awards reflect our commitment to pushing the boundaries of AI filmmaking and creating meaningful stories that resonate with audiences worldwide.
James Drake TV
Exploring the deeper meaning of Arts, Science, History and Films
JamesDrake TV is a dynamic YouTube channel that uncovers the deeper stories behind art, science, history, and film. It reveals the emotions, visions, and ideas that shape our world, showing how art challenges boundaries, science uncovers profound mysteries, and history connects the past with the future.
Through engaging storytelling and visually stunning footage, the channel brings these stories to life in a way that sparks curiosity and inspires connection. Combining traditional research with cutting-edge AI-generated visuals, JamesDrake TV creates content that is as captivating as it is informative.
By bridging technology and creativity, the channel invites viewers to explore the forces that define the human experience and to engage in conversations that deepen understanding of the world we live in.
The Drake Foundation
In 2014, I launched The Drake Foundation — a not-for-profit organisation committed to understanding and improving the health and welfare of contact sports players impacted by head injuries. We’ve helped connect leading neuroscience research with mainstream contact sports in the UK.
One of our most significant findings came through the Drake Rugby Biomarker Study, which revealed that 23% of the 44 young elite rugby players sampled had abnormal structural changes in their brains. While this is a landmark discovery, more research is needed to determine the longer-term clinical impact.
Drake Foundation Studies
Drake Rugby Imaging Study
Landmark research revealing that 23% of elite rugby players had abnormal brain structure — a vital step in linking sport and brain health.
The Brain Study
A long-term study tracking Brain Health in retired Elite amateur rugby players.
Drake Football Study
Monitors long-term health In professional elite football players.
The Drake IPV Study
Exploring how Intimate Partner Violence May Affect the Brain.
Drake Calleja Trust
In 2015, I founded the Drake Calleja Trust, which supports exceptional musicians from underprivileged backgrounds at the start of their careers. We receive over 1,000 applications each year, and our scholars are among the most talented young musicians in the world — including Alim Beisembayev, winner of the 2021 Leeds International Piano Competition.
Future Medicine Ltd
Through *The Room*, we convene intimate, invitation-only gatherings for senior decision-makers, designed around candid discussion, meaningful relationships and the challenges that matter most to the sector. Each event is carefully curated to ensure the right people are in the room and that the conversation remains thoughtful, relevant and commercially valuable.
Through *Future Medicine Studio*, we create distinctive thought-leadership and storytelling formats for founders, executives and organisations. From interview series and films to written profiles and editorial content, we help leading voices communicate their ideas, experience and identity with depth, clarity and authority.
Latest Publications
Rue de Seine…Half Past Ten. A History of One Paris Street
Published by Whitefox June 2026
Paperback available from Amazon
Stretching from the banks of the Seine to the Luxembourg Gardens, the Rue de Seine appears to be an ordinary thoroughfare. Yet for seven hundred years it has been a stage for scandal, intrigue and revolution.
In Rue de Seine… Half Past Ten, the street’s history is told through the people who lived there: exiled Queen Margot, debt-ridden literary giants Honoré de Balzac and Charles Baudelaire, revolutionary George Sand, and existentialists Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre among many others. Moving from Enlightenment salons to the barricades of the Revolution and resistance during Nazi occupation, this enchanting book reveals how one modest street became a hidden engine of France’s artistic and intellectual life.
Richly illustrated and meticulously researched, it is a timeless portrait of a key artery in Paris where art was born, love was scandalous and ideas changed history’s course.
Culture & Creativity
James’s literary unit has published some of history’s most extraordinary letters in collaboration with Bloomsbury, including:
- Letters for the Ages: The Private and Personal Letters of Winston Churchill — Hatchards’ Book of the Month, June 2023 (Watch on YouTube)
- Letters for the Ages: Behind Bars (April 2024)
- Letters for the Ages: Great Scientists (September 2024)
- Letters for the Ages: Great Musicians (Spring 2025)
Art & Inspiration
In my spare time, I am a portrait artist, painting oil portraits of people I admire and historic moments in time.
In honour of the wonderful sculptor Paolo Troubetzkoy, my team has created a central database of his works, in collaboration with the artist’s family — ensuring his legacy is accessible for generations to come.