James Hickey is a qualified solicitor in Ireland. He was partner in charge of the media and entertainment law group of Irish law firm Matheson LLP from 1992 to 2011. He then was CEO of Screen Ireland (formerly the Irish Film Board), the State agency funding films and TV series from 2011 to 2019. He is currently General Counsel with the European Producers’ Club, a Brussels based organisation with almost two hundred members from all across Europe. He is a board member of Screen Producers Ireland. He is also currently chair of the board of directors of the Lir Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College Dublin CLG and of Árdán, which manages the National Talent Academy for Film and Television in Ireland and the Western Regional Audiovisual Production (“WRAP”) Fund. He is a member of the Law Society of Ireland Intellectual Property and Data Protection Committee. He was a board member of the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO) from 2009 to 2023 and was chair of the board of directors of the National Theatre Society Limited (The Abbey Theatre) from 1992 to 2001.