James Vaughan (born 1989, Sydney) is an Australian independent screenwriter, director, editor and artist. His short film You Like It, I Love It (2013) screened in competition at Berlinale, Clermont-Ferrand, and Melbourne International Film Festival, where he received the Swinburne Award for Emerging Australian Filmmaker. Vaughan's feature debut Friends and Strangers (2021) was the first Australian film to feature in Rotterdam International Film Festival's Tiger Competition. The film went on to screen at New Directors / New Films, Viennale and Jeonju International Film Festival, where it was awarded the Special Jury Prize.