Biography
Hunter Richards sold his first original screenplay, "Jack and Jill" (unrelated to the Sandler film), to Paramount Studios in a seven-figure deal, with Tony Scott attached as director. After years of working as a "script doctor," he shifted to writing and directing his own projects.
He made his directorial debut with the feature film "London" for Sony Studios. Starring Chris Evans, Jason Statham, Jessica Biel, Isla Fisher, Dane Cook, Joy Bryant, and Kat Dennings, the film won Best American Film at Montreal's World Film Festival, became a cult classic in the US and UK, and was notably criticized by Siskel and Ebert.
Hunter created an original FX TV series inspired by the scandalous true story of Elite Models founder John Casablancas, seen through the perspective of his top Booker and whistleblower. During the 2008 writers' strike, he moved to Maui, where he wrote and produced the documentary "Power," which examined global energy security and investigated innovative green technologies aimed at reducing Hawaii’s reliance on diesel generators, featuring Lanai's former owner, David H. Murdoch.
In 2010, Hunter directed a documentary chronicling Sean Parker and Daniel Ek's intense efforts to introduce Spotify to the US market. Living in Silicon Valley, he partnered with Parker to launch a production company, developing rock-and-roll projects such as the true story of Sublime and Bradley Nowell, as well as the cult novel "Wonderland Avenue: Tales of Glamour and Excess."
He wrote and directed the short film "Awake," starring Rosario Dawson, Rebekah Neumann, and Sean Lennon, produced and financed by WeWork co-founder Adam Neumann. Hunter then led WeWork's film division alongside renowned producer and casting director Bonnie Timmermann.
In 2014, Hunter wrote and produced the Netflix film "Free the Nipple" and co-founded the international gender equality movement of the same name, which received support from celebrities including Shepard Fairey, Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevingne, Lena Dunham, Bella Hadid, Miley Cyrus, and Rihanna.
During the extended 2015 writers' strike, Hunter stepped away from Hollywood and returned to Silicon Valley to develop brain health technologies targeting insomnia, anxiety, and depression without pharmaceuticals. His dedication to mental health took him to Stockholm, where he collaborated with Mendi.com, a biofeedback digital therapeutic game controlled by brainwaves, and secured funding for Braintap.com, an advanced technology designed to optimize brain health for elite athletes.
Hunter has since returned to Los Angeles to direct his screenplay "Counting Sheep," a sci-fi love story currently being cast and produced by Bonnie Timmermann. He is also producing a TV series adapted from the novel he co-wrote, "Growing Up Death Row," which recounts the rise and fall of Death Row Records and the criminal attorney and "fixer" who kept its players out of jail.
