“I wanted to find a strong, unique Latino voice,” New Jersey-born Sutter said. “Because I didn’t think a white guy from Jersey should be writing about Latin culture and traditions. Elgin is that voice.”

James’ bio reads like the story of a SOA character. Homeless as a teenager, he was a fixture in Boston’s hardcore punk scene, helping found a multi-ethnic national street gang that targeted neo-Nazi skinheads and drug dealers. After spending a decade and a half in the gang, James left Boston for Los Angeles where he entered the Sundance Institute Feature Film program. James’ directorial debut, Little Birds, starring Juno Temple & Leslie Mann, premiered in competition at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival. A few months later James began serving a prison sentence for a past gang-related charge of federal extortion. Little Birds was released in 2012 by Millennium Entertainment and the film won a National Board of Review award. On the film side, James is slated to direct A Million Little Pieces for John Wells and Plan B Entertainment, and is developing a film on the troubled life of actress Jean Seberg for Electric City entertainment, adapted from the biography Breathless.

The “Sons of Anarchy” spinoff is one step closer to becoming reality.

FX has ordered a pilot of “Mayans MC,” based on the network’s hit Charlie Hunnam-led motorcycle gang drama series.

Kurt Sutter, who created the original show, co-wrote the pilot for the spinoff with Elgin James, and will also direct it.

“Mayans MC” is described as being set in a post Jax Teller (Hunnam) world, where EZ Reyes, a prospect in the Mayan MC charter on the Cali/Mexi border, struggles with his desire for vengeance against the cartel, and his need for respect from the women he loves.

Sutter has a long history with FX. He wrote for and eventually executive produced the gritty Michael Chiklis-led police drama “The Shield,” which ran for seven seasons, and he went on to create “Sons of Anarchy,” the wildly popular outlaw biker drama that also lasted seven seasons. It was the highest-rated drama series in FX Networks’ history when it went off the air in December 2014.

Sutter also created the short-lived series “The Bastard Executioner.” That series followed a medieval knight who has sworn off violence but is drawn back into bloody conflict. Sutter announced he was cancelling the series in November after a lukewarm critical reception and so-so ratings.