James Lassiter is an American film producer and talent agent. He served as the manager of American rapper and actor Will Smith before the two co-founded the production company Overbrook Entertainment in 1998. Also Smith's business partner, Lassiter has co-produced several films in which he starred. Prior, he founded Jarola Artist Management in 1991, and Brookside Artist Management in 2002 as sole proprietor.[1]
Lassiter attended University of Miami and Temple University and befriended Jeffrey "Jazzy Jeff" Townes, who was in a rap duo with soon-to-be actor Will Smith. Lassiter became acquainted with Smith, and became his road manager. Lassiter briefly worked with other companies including Handprint and The Firm, but ultimately shifted focus towards managing Smith full time, also serving as his business partner. Lassiter and Smith formed Overbrook Entertainment in 1998, a production company which has produced films including Hitch and ATL. While Overbrook had a deal with Universal Studios to produce films, none resulted, and the company was taken to Sony. The pair sought to market each of their productions to a different foreign market, promoting I, Robot in Russia and Ali in South Africa.[2]
He was a producer in all films unless otherwise noted.