James Hockridge

James Edward Hockridge was the First Assistant Director on. This was his first feature film credit, and he has since worked on twenty-five films and four made-for-television movies.

Television credits
Before Star Trek III, Hockridge was a First Assistant Director (1st AD) on the action-adventure television series Charlie's Angels and T.J. Hooker, the latter of which starred William Shatner, James Darren, and Richard Herd. Among the directors Hockridge worked with on both Charlie's Angels and T.J. Hooker were Corey Allen, Cliff Bole, and Kim Manners.

Ken Stringer worked under Hockridge as Second Assistant Director (2nd AD) on T. J. Hooker and did the same on Star Trek III. Hockridge and Stringer then collaborated on the 1984 TV movie The Jesse Owns Story, whose cast included LeVar Burton, Ronny Cox, James B. Sikking, Vic Tayback, John Vargas, and Ben Vereen. Babu Subramaniam, a 1st AD on Star Trek: The Next Generation, was Hockridge's 2nd AD on the 1987 science fiction TV movie The Man Who Fell to Earth, in which Bruce McGill, Robert Picardo, and Wil Wheaton had supporting roles.

Hockridge next served as the 1st AD on the fantasy series Beauty and the Beast, which starred actor Ron Perlman. At least one of Hockridge's episodes was directed by Victor Lobl. Some of the actors to appear in Hockridge's episodes include James Avery, Zachary Benjamin, Daniel Benzali, Raye Birk, Katy Boyer, Joseph Campanella, David Clennon, Mimi Craven, Cory Danziger, Tony Epper, Ellen Geer, Stan Ivar, Scott Jaeck, Tony Jay, Kay E. Kuter, Christopher Neame, Nicholas Shaffer, Armin Shimerman, and Philip N. Waller.

After nearly a decade of working solely on features, Hockridge returned to television production with the 1999 NBC movie Mutiny. He then worked as the 1st AD on the 2000 science fiction-horror TV movie They Nest, which co-starred John Savage and Dean Stockwell.

Film credits
Since 1989, Hockridge has worked almost exclusively as a 1st AD on feature films. Including Star Trek III, all but one one of his films between 1984 and 1995 were produced by Paramount Pictures. His first film production after Star Trek III was the 1990 hit Ghost, which featured Whoopi Goldberg and Vincent Schiavelli. Soon thereafter, he worked on the 1991 comedy Soapdish, which also co-starred Whoop Goldberg as well as Teri Hatcher. Hockridge then worked on the 1991 Scott Bakula football comedy Necessary Roughness, followed by the 1992 comedy Wayne's World and the 1993 romantic thriller Sliver. On the latter, assistant director Christopher T. Gerrity was also a 1st AD.

Hockridge's only non-Paramount film during the early 1990s was the Warner Bros. release Dennis the Menace, for which he was the 1st AD for the film's Second Unit. stuntman Freddie Hice was the Second Unit Director, while Richard Oswald was the second assistant director for the film's main unit. The cast of Dennis the Menace included Christopher Lloyd and Paul Winfield; the music was composed by Jerry Goldsmith.

Hockridge has worked as the 1st AD on nearly all of comedy director 's films, beginning with the 1994 spoof Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (featuring Marc Alaimo, Earl Boen, Raye Birk, Bill Erwin, Matt Roe, and Bill Zuckert). Hockridge has since collaborated with Segal on 1995's Tommy Boy (which co-starred Zach Grenier and Julie Warner), 1996's My Fellow Americans (featuring Ann Cusack, Jack Kehler, Tom Wright, and Jeff Yagher), 2003's Anger Management, 2004's 50 First Dates, 2005's The Longest Yard (featuring James Cromwell and Ed Lauter), and 2008's Get Smart (which starred Dwayne Johnson). Matthew D. Smith was an Additional 2nd AD on Anger Management, 50 First Dates, and The Longest Yard.

Hockridge's other film credits include the 1995 Paramount thriller Nick of Time (featuring Bill Smitrovich), the 1996 adventure comedy Fled (featuring Robert Hooks and Ken Jenkins), the 1997 crime thriller Red Corner (featuring Tzi Ma), the 1998 action thriller Black Dog (featuring Cyril O'Reilly and Brenda Strong), the 1997 action-adventure The Mod Squad (featuring Holmes Osborne and Dey Young), and the 2001 comedy Rat Race (starring Lanei Chapman and Whoopi Goldberg). The aforementioned Matthew D. Smith also worked on Rat Race.