When first reading Jim Clemente’s professional resume, one cannot help but feel awe. When reading his personal backstory, expect to feel a full array of emotions ranging from empathetic anger to rousing inspiration. 

SPYFLIX Festival is beyond honored to have the former FBI profiler on our team, serving as a member of the festival’s Advisory Board. Today he’s a successful (formerly dyslexic) novelist, podcast host, television writer, producer and consultant in both law enforcement and entertainment. His creative accomplishments, subject matter expertise and unique perspectives are rooted in an extraordinary professional and personal life. 

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In the mid-80’s, while working as a prosecutor in Manhattan, Jim went undercover and wore a wire to help the FBI and NYPD put away the head of a summer camp who sexually assaulted Jim when he was 15 years old. The FBI then invited Jim to join its team, and he would eventually join the bureau’s Behavioral Analysis Unit at Quantico, perfecting his skills as a profiler.

During his time at the bureau, Jim spent three years undercover as a Wall Street broker, helping bust a price-fixing scam; was a first responder on 9/11, which led to a severe bout with Lymphoma; and was brought in to consult on interrogation after the controversy at Guantánamo Bay, becoming one of the first to officially report that the CIA was using illegal torture methods on detainees. Special Agent Clemente investigated serial killers, serial rapists, child abductions, child homicide cases, and was an integral part of the team that cracked the D.C. sniper case.

Jim was also charged with investigating one of the most shocking events of US President Bill Clinton’s presidency: the death of deputy White House counsel Vince Foster. Clemente needed to find out what Foster was thinking and feeling in the days before his death (ultimately ruled a suicide) and what - if anything - the Clintons had to do with it. Listen to Jim tell the story on SPYSCAPE’s podcast True Spies, The Profiler.

Jim generously took time out of his (busier than most anyone you know) schedule to speak to Team SPYFLIX.

SPYFLIX fans may or may not know that a reboot of America’s Most Wanted and a new companion show to Criminal Minds are in the works. What can you tell us about these projects and how involved you are in their revival? 

My brother Tim, also a former FBI special agent, and I started XG Productions ('XG' meaning former G-Men) to bring authenticity to film and TV and to use Hollywood’s money to do good. One way to do that has been to help catch dangerous fugitives. That’s why we have partnered with FOX to re-launch America’s Most Wanted - but using all new technology and world-wide access that we didn’t have years ago. We’ve only aired five episodes so far, and we’ve already caught nine fugitives - both from here in the US and from as far away as Spain! 

And we are also partnering with ABC and CBS to launch a Criminal Minds companion show, Real Criminal Minds. One of the stars you all know and love from Criminal Minds will host along with me, and we’ll share with the audience real cases, similar to those covered in the original series. I’m so excited to be executive producing both of these new shows - and I know fans are going to love them!

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You and your team at XG create content and consult with film and TV creators regularly. We hear so often from our intel & investigative partners that the real world they live in is not nearly as action-packed as is portrayed in Hollywood. Yet they (and your team) are often brought in to help lend an air of authenticity to the material. Our SPYFLIX fans and aspiring filmmakers would love to know how you walk that fine line between developing content that is (essentially) realistic and also serves up great entertainment?  

That is a very delicate dance. We believe that we’ve perfected the art of “educating while entertaining.”  We take dramatic elements of real-life law enforcement encounters that we’ve lived through or learned about, and we infuse them into storylines - all the while keeping an eye on the goal of telling the most compelling story possible.  

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In recent years you've helped shed light on the role of profilers and the nuances of the craft. Presumably the evolution of technology and access to information about people and their behavior has impacted the profiling profession. Can you tell us how - both in the real world and in fictional storytelling - technologies and access are making a difference? 

The 3-D, age-progressed, animated criminal avatars that we use on the new America’s Most Wanted are the latest in crime fighting technology. Also, Social Media is a whole new way to get inside the heads of people. We have to always remember that some people create a “persona” for social media, while many use social media to narrate their lives or vent about grievances. These posts can provide important background info about a person. They may also give strong behavioral indicators about what a person is planning to do. It is the job of a profiler to analyze and interpret those behaviors, and the more data they have to crunch, the more accurate the profile.  

Which storytellers and/or stories have influenced you in your legal, law enforcement and/or creative storytelling roles? 

As for shows, that would include Dragnet, Adam-12, and The FBI. For books, I’d say Andrew Vachss’ Burke series; Philip Friedman’s Reasonable Doubt; Thomas Harris’ The Silence of the Lambs; and John Douglas’ Mindhunter. And films would definitely include Presumed Innocent, Kramer vs. Kramer and Jagged Edge.

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How did you spend your time in lockdown?

I stayed in my place 99% of the time, but I walked every day. At first it was just pacing around my apartment while conducting interviews over Zoom. Then I would walk out to the ocean and back - about 6 miles round-trip. 

We pivoted as a company to All Audio Productions, and created / produced eight Audible original Series - starting with Evil Has A Name, Call Me God, Brooklyn North, Shootout, The Riddle of Emmon Bodfish and soon to be released eps, Where The Devil Belongs, Devil In The Valley Midwest Monster, and Injustice Collector. And we are beginning production on six more titles.

Where will your next vacation travel destination be, now that travel is back in action?

For me the most fun and exotic place I have ever been is New Zealand. From the city lights of Auckland to historic Christchurch to the stunning scenery of Queenstown - the sights, the people, the stark and beautiful natural habitats - it’s all amazing.  I’ve been there twice, and I can’t wait to go back there again. There is so much I still have to see and experience there.

For its inaugural year, the entirely virtual SPYFLIX Festival had some amazing submissions, including the 2021 Oscar nominated narrative short, The Letter Room. Might we see you at the next (live & in-person) festival in NYC participating as a Guest Judge? Creators would surely appreciate and benefit from your creative guidance.  

Well, I love NYC and I love SPYFLIX! I would love to be on the jury next time, and if it is safe to travel, I would love to be there in person!

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