FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 2022

James Hayman Photo & NFT Collection About Global Social Awareness
To Benefit Actress Annie Potts’s The Heart Channels Charity

Los Angeles, CA – Emmy-nominated, Golden Globe-winning director, producer, and photographer James Hayman presents a new photography and NFT collection about social awareness with 100% of proceeds benefiting The Heart Channels, a charity founded by Golden Globe-nominated actress Annie Potts.

The photographs in the collection are images taken from around the globe. As Hayman states: “People are in need everywhere. I don’t want to shy away from the inequities that are very real and often go unseen in our daily lives, but I also don’t want to merely observe. Philanthropy and volunteerism must be another part of that photographic engagement. I encourage everyone to not merely observe, but to expand our awareness and our support wherever and whenever possible.” The images in this show demonstrate his ongoing commitment to creating art for a purpose.

After photographs from the collection exhibited physically at Studio Abba in Florence, Italy, the first NFT in the collection will drop on OpenSea on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, with subsequent drops in the following weeks. 

All proceeds from sales of the collection will be donated to The Heart Channels charity. Founded by actress Annie Potts (known for her roles in Young Sheldon, Designing Women, Any Day Now, Ghostbusters and for the voice of Bo Peep in the Toy Story series), The Heart Channels was developed to build and nurture channels of the heart between people who are in need and those who wish to help. The charity has multiple giving programs to provide aid to those in need, including working with refugees in the U.S., foster children attending college, single working mothers, and the unhoused.

To view the collection on OpenSea, please visit here.  

About James Hayman

After attending The American University for photojournalism, Hayman’s first photography assignment was to photograph the Nixon and Brezhnev Summit at the White House. Disenchanted with the paparazzi-like frenzy, Hayman went on to study film at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and post graduate work at New York University, though his photojournalistic roots still inform his practice today. 

He worked for the UN’s disaster relief efforts after the 1976 earthquake in Guatemala, which led to several photographic series in Central America. In the 1980s, Hayman began shooting various independent films in New York City and then worked as a cinematographer in China, Japan, and more photographic series documenting Asia. 

In 1989, he moved to Los Angeles to direct and produce multiple television shows and films. Since then, he has directed numerous pilots, including Dangerous Minds and Drop Dead Diva, as well as episodes of The Sopranos, ER, Law & Order, House, Desperate Housewives, and others. He has worked as an executive producer, most notably on Ugly Betty, which led to winning a Golden Globe Award. He has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards and a Director’s Guild Award.

Website: www.jameshayman.com
Instagram: @jameshaymanphotography
Twitter: @_jameshayman