Richard Kelly Movies, TV Shows, and Filmography

Richard Kelly

Richard Kelly

Directing

Biography

James Richard Kelly (born 1975) is an American writer-director, best known for his debut feature, the science-fiction cult classic "Donnie Darko"(2001). Kelly was born in Newport News, Virginia, the son of Lane and Ennis Kelly. He won a scholarship to the University of Southern California to study at the USC School of Cinema-Television. He made two short films at USC, "The Goodbye Place" and "Visceral Matter", before graduating in 1997. "Donnie Darko" was his first feature and was nominated for 21 awards, winning 11 of them, including a nomination for a Saturn Award. The film later ended up #2 on Empire magazine's list of 50 greatest independent films of all time, behind Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs". Kelly wrote the screenplay for Tony Scott's biographical crime thriller "Domino" (2005), and went on to write and direct the postmodern L.A. satire "Southland Tales" (2006) and the science-fiction mystery "The Box" (2009), inspired by "The Twilight Zone" episode "Button, Button". Although his three films differ considerably in setting and characters, they share similar themes of time travel, existentialism, and spirituality. Kelly's particular filmmaking sensibilities can be traced back to his viewing of Terry Giliam's "Brazil" (1985), as told to author Robert K. Elder in an interview for his book "The Film That Changed My Life" (2011). The commercial underperformance of Kelly's films has made it difficult for him to secure financing for other projects, and as such he has not directed a film since 2009. In 2016, filmmaker Kevin Smith said of Kelly: "He is insanely creative and is not unlike Christopher Nolan. But Nolan wound up in the Warner Bros. system where he got special handling, and he got a lot of money to make huge art films like "Inception". Richard can be one of our greatest filmmakers. He is right now, but just a lot of people don't realize it. He's still a kid, and someone needs to Nolan that kid."

Filmography Movies

Acting

USIDent TV: Surveilling the Southland movie poster
MOVIE

USIDent TV: Surveilling the Southland

Not rated yet
USIDent TV: Surveilling the Southland
Self
#1 Fan: A Darkomentary movie poster
MOVIE

#1 Fan: A Darkomentary

6.7(0.0K)
#1 Fan: A Darkomentary
Self
Out of Print movie poster
MOVIE

Out of Print

5.7(0.0K)
Out of Print
Self
Deus ex Machina: The Philosophy of 'Donnie Darko' movie poster
MOVIE

Deus ex Machina: The Philosophy of 'Donnie Darko'

6.2(0.0K)
Deus ex Machina: The Philosophy of 'Donnie Darko'
Self
It's a Madcap World: The Making of an Unfinished Film movie poster
MOVIE

It's a Madcap World: The Making of an Unfinished Film

Not rated yet
It's a Madcap World: The Making of an Unfinished Film
Himself
Raging Bull: Reflections on a ClassicMOVIE
MOVIE

Raging Bull: Reflections on a Classic

Not rated yet
Raging Bull: Reflections on a Classic
Self

Production

Donnie Darko movie poster
MOVIE

Donnie Darko

7.8(13.4K)
Donnie Darko
Director
Southland Tales movie poster
MOVIE

Southland Tales

5.2(0.6K)
Southland Tales
Director
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell movie poster
MOVIE

I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

4.7(0.1K)
I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
Producer
The Box movie poster
MOVIE

The Box

5.6(1.9K)
The Box
Screenplay
The Box movie poster
MOVIE

The Box

5.6(1.9K)
The Box
Director
Domino movie poster
MOVIE

Domino

5.9(1.3K)
Domino
Story
Domino movie poster
MOVIE

Domino

5.9(1.3K)
Domino
Screenplay
The Goodbye Place movie poster
MOVIE

The Goodbye Place

5.3(0.0K)
The Goodbye Place
Director
S. Darko movie poster
MOVIE

S. Darko

4.3(0.5K)
S. Darko
Characters
Donnie Darko movie poster
MOVIE

Donnie Darko

7.8(13.4K)
Donnie Darko
Writer

Gallery

Richard Kelly portrait
Richard Kelly portrait
Richard Kelly portrait