A native of Canada, James Orr attended the Carleton University Journalism School, and then the undergraduate film school at York University in Toronto. In 1977, he was the first Canadian to be accepted as a Director Fellow at the prestigious American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Along with his writing/producing partner, Jim Cruickshank, Orr is responsible for a cumulative box office of over a half-billion dollars, worldwide, with movies such as 3 Men and a Baby (1987), Mr. Destiny (1990) and Father of the Bride (1991).