Richard Raymond

Richard Raymond is a writer, director and producer who grew up in London and now resides in Los Angeles. His has directed the award-winning short films, "Souls of Totality", "A Million Eyes" and the feature, "Desert Dancer". Richard's 2019 short, "A Million Eyes" starring Joe Morton and Katie Lowes was selected at 10 Academy Qualifying Film Festivals and won a total of 10 awards including, the Grand Prix at the Hiroshima International Film Festival, the Best Film at the New Renaissance Film Festival, Best Short Film at the Gold Movie Awards in London and a Special Jury Award at Hollyshorts, Los Angeles. The film was long-listed for the 2020 Oscars and garnered wide critical praise. Richard's 2018 short, "Souls of Totality" starring Tatiana Maslany, and Tom Cullen, contains a single-take sequence filmed during a real solar eclipse, a first in cinema history. The film was selected at 16 Academy Award Qualifying Film Festivals, including Tribeca, Palm Springs and Mill Valley. It won a total of 12 awards including, the Best Short Film of the Festival at Raindance, the Grand Jury Award at Hollyshorts, the Grand Prix at the Hiroshima International Film Festival, the Best Film of the Festival at St. Louis and the Most Popular Film at Rhode Island. "Souls" was also awarded a "Special Mention for Direction" at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film was long-listed for an Oscar and garnered wide critical praise. In 2015 Richard marked his debut as a director with the indie feature "Desert Dancer", starring Frieda Pinto and based on the true story of the Iranian dancer Afshin Ghaffarian. The film was selected for the opening night at the 30th Santa Barbara International Film Festival and screened at Lincoln Center, the United States Capitol, the United Nations, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it was runner-up for the Audience Award. Desert Dancer was also nominated for the prestigious Golden Frog at Camerimage and won Best Choreography at the The 30th Annual Fred and Adele Astaire Awards. In 2009 Richard produced the British feature "Heartless", starring Jim Sturgess, Eddie Marsan and Timothy Spall. The film was released by Lions Gate in the UK and IFC in the USA.