Biography
J.P. Riley is a director and producer based in Los Angeles and Chicago, specializing in music videos, commercials, television, and feature films. His work has been featured at numerous festivals and award events, including SXSW, AFI Best of Fest, Sundance Institute Filmmakers Fund, Independent Film Festival of Boston, Independent Filmmakers Showcase (IFS), Sarasota International Film Festival, Telluride International Film Festival, HD Fest, Columbia's Pictional Festival, The Chicago Film Festival, Flicker Fest, Midwest Independent Film Festival, and he has received multiple Audience and Jury Awards at The Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, and London United Film Festivals.
His music video clients have included The Verve Pipe (RCA Records), The Barenaked Ladies (Warner Bros/Nettwerk Music), The Plain White T's (Hollywood Records), Rachael Yamagata (Arista/RCA Victor), The Baldwin Brothers (TVT Records), Oh My God (Split Red Records/WEA), Bayside (Wind-Up Records), Company of Thieves (Wind-Up Records), Mutts (Sony Music/The Orchard), Queen Latifah (Capitol Records), OK Go (EMI), Johnny Cash (American/Columbia), and Taylor Swift (Republic Records).
Commercial clients include VH1, MTV New Media, Chipotle, Frontier Airlines, ESPN, The Chicago Sun-Times News Group, and Comcast. His commercial projects have earned two Telly Awards and a W3 Award.
His debut feature film, Act Naturally, was released in spring 2013 through Cinetic Rights Management, FilmBuff, and Gunpowder & Sky. The indie film’s theatrical clothing-optional screening tour gained media attention, landing Riley and co-producer Katie L. Hall on the covers of The Los Angeles Times and USA Today. Act Naturally topped Prescreen’s VOD portal for three weeks, appeared on Best Buy’s Cinema Now Most Viewed Releases, and was included on iTunes’ Must-See Summer Comedies List. Riley has also produced several indie films, including Hannah Rosner’s Park City and Samantha Buck’s short film Depends, as well as her 2013 Peabody Award-winning documentary Best Kept Secret.
He has directed and produced episodes of ABC’s Pan Am, Stumptown, Home Economics, and AMC+/IFC’s Cooper’s Bar.
In summer 2022, Riley served as Splinter Unit Director on Netflix’s Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F.
Originally from Indianapolis, Indiana, J.P. Riley graduated from Northwestern University in 2003 with a B.A. in Radio, Television, and Film. He currently resides in Los Angeles, working in network television and producing sequels to the Act Naturally franchise.
