Jefferson Richard(1946-2021)

A true pioneer of the independent film movement, Jefferson Richard began his professional career in the 1960s as a folk/blues singer and musician, performing at the legendary Club 47 in Harvard Square and other notable coffee houses in Boston and New York's Greenwich Village, playing with such luminaries as Tom Rush, Mike Bloomfield and Paul Butterfield.

He earned his degree at the Cambridge School Of Broadcating (where he managed the radio station)and graduated from the American Academy Of Dramatic Arts in New York. While attending the Academy, he met George 'Buck' Flower and they became lifelong friends and collaborators. He joined Flower's nationally known repertory company The Inspiration Players, based in Santa Monica, CA, and toured the country both acting and directing morality-based classical theatre in churches and schools. After a stint in the US Army--where he headed up Armed Forces Radio at Fort Ord, CA, during the Vietnam war--he began directing theatre in Los Angeles and throughout the country, as well as working on low-budget films as an actor, grip or whatever job he could get.

Over the next few years Richard performed every job on the set. He broke into the film production field as First Assistant Director on The Black 6 (1973), which Matt Cimber produced and directed. The two formed a bond and continued to work together over the next 14 years on such films as The Candy Tangerine Man (1975), Gemini Affair: A Diary (1975) and The Witch Who Came from the Sea (1976), with Richard progressing to production manager, line producer, second-unit director and eventually producer. It was while working on Cimber's Butterfly (1981) that Richard met and worked with Orson Welles who, even after his death, remains as a great influence in his life.

In 1977 Richard migrated to Park City, Utah, to work with Sunn Classic Pictures where, in addition to being 1st A.D., he honed his skills as a second-unit director on the series La légende d'Adams et de l'ours Benjamin (1977) and the television movie The Time Machine (1978). He also served as 1st Assistant Director on the Emmy-nominated The Legend of Sleepy Hollow (1980) and a number of other television movies and features. In the 1980s he was one of the most sought-after line producers for independent films in Los Angeles, co-producing such features as Hit list (1989), One Man Force (1989) and Maniac Cop (1988), as well as international productions including V comme vengeance (1982), Hundra (1983) and Dance Academy (1988) (both the feature and the RAI Television mini series). He also directed two features: the family-themed theatrical hit In Search of a Golden Sky (1984) and the campy horror cult classic Berserker (1987), which he also wrote.

The 19902 brought success with his own productions as well as with producing action sequences for such films as Gangsta cop (1999), Get Carter (2000) and Destination: Graceland (2001). He worked with James Glickenhaus on several films, including Le triomphe des innocents (1993) and Timemaster (1995), which he produced. In addition, he line-produced two international television series: Agence Acapulco (1998) and Conan l'aventurier (1992) in Mexico, where he has also co-produced two features. Other assignments include École paternelle 2 (2007), Say It in Russian (2007), Bagboy (2007) and Souviens-toi... l'été dernier 3 (2006).

He is developing several of his own projects as well as contemplating his next line producer assignment. He resides in Park City, Utah, and Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife and soul mate Sheila. They are both active environmentalists.