Taylor Ri'chard facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Taylor Ri'chard
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Ri'chard in 2019
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| Born | February 17, 1980 Church Point, Louisiana, U.S.
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| Years active | 2001–present |
Taylor Ri’chard (born February 17, 1980) is an American film director, screenwriter, executive producer, and actor. He is known for directing and writing horror films.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Taylor Ri’chard was born in Church Point, Louisiana. His parents are Shirley Richard and Robert Taylor. He went to Dillard University in New Orleans, Louisiana. There, he earned a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications. This degree focused on radio, television, and movies.
While studying for his graduate degree at American InterContinental University, Ri'chard worked on many projects. These included short films and web series. As a student at Dillard University, he also interned on a documentary. This documentary, called Murder on a Sunday Morning, later won an Academy Award.
Career in Film
Starting in Film
In 2001, Ri’chard worked as an intern on the Academy Award-winning HBO documentary Murder on a Sunday Morning. After this, Ri’chard moved to Atlanta, Georgia. He hoped to join the growing film community there. However, he ended up working in the corporate world for several years. This put his film dreams on hold.
Feeling unhappy with his office job, he started directing funny sketch comedy videos. In 2009, Comcast Communications bought the rights to one of his sketches. It was a parody of Beyoncé’s song “Single Ladies”. This sketch became very popular. It reached the number one spot on Comcast's on-demand parody channel.
Founding 3rd Fathom Entertainment
In 2011, Ri'chard left his corporate job. He then co-founded 3rd Fathom Entertainment with his business partner, Zach Davis. Together, they wrote the screenplay for a movie called The Final Project. They worked for four years to make this screenplay into a real movie.
On April 16, 2015, The Final Project was shown to the public. It had limited, one-night-only viewings in several cities. This caught the attention of CAVU Pictures. This is an independent film distribution company based in New York.
Theatrical Release and Impact
On February 12, 2016, CAVU Pictures released The Final Project in theaters. It first opened in Georgia and Texas. Then, it expanded to a national release starting on March 4, 2016. It opened in New York and Los Angeles, with more cities following.
The Final Project was Taylor Ri’chard's first full-length movie. It was also his first time directing a feature film. This movie made Taylor Ri'chard one of the few African-Americans to both direct and write a horror film that was shown in theaters. The last person to do this was Ernest Dickerson with his movie Bones in 2001.
Ri'chard's second feature film, "Hallowed Be Thy Name", was released in spring 2020.
Filmography
- The Final Project (2016)
- Hallowed Be Thy Name (2020)
