Jozef K. Richards (born July 9, 1989) is an American

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, producer,

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

children's author Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

, and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicate ...

. He founded Kintou Media Company, which controls numerous other

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

-based companies, including King's Tower Productions, and has distributed

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

through

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

Barnes & Noble Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across the United States. Barnes & Noble operates mainly through its B ...

, and other international retailers.

Career

King's Tower Productions

Jozef K. Richards is the founder and owner of King's Tower Productions and the writer and director of the 2011 film, ''The Amateur Monster Movie''; the 2013 film, ''The Wayward Sun''; and the 2014 short film, "Un Jardín Adentro de La Violencia". From 2015-2017, Richards produced and starred in the satirical web series, "Holy Shit", which took aim at religious dogma, its lack of credibility, and pokes fun at the lesser-known absurdities of ''

The Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writte ...

'' and similar religious texts, including many of those taken literally by some sects of the

Christian faith Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. The show often features skits with

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

scholars and celebrity guests, which have included comedian

Paul Provenza Paul Provenza (born July 31, 1957) is an American television presenter, actor, radio panelist, stand-up comedian, filmmaker, and skeptic based in Los Angeles. He has appeared on several podcasts and in recent years has interviewed other stand-up c ...

, theologian

Robert M. Price Robert McNair Price (born July 7, 1954) is an American New Testament scholar who argues in favor of the Christ myth theorythe claim that a historical Jesus did not exist. Price is the author of a number of books on biblical studies and the hi ...

, historian

Richard Carrier Richard Cevantis Carrier (born December 1, 1969) is an American ancient historian. He is a long-time contributor to skeptical websites, including The Secular Web and Freethought Blogs. Carrier has published a number of books and articles on ph ...

, actress Heather Henderson, author David Fitzgerald, and American rapper and

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

affiliate

Killah Priest Walter Reed (born August 16, 1970), better known by his stage name Killah Priest, is an American rapper, a member of Sunz of Man, and a Wu-Tang Clan affiliate who was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He is known for his intensely spiritual ...

. In 2016, the teaser trailer for Richards' third feature film, ''Batman & Jesus'', was unveiled and used as the lead-in video by members of the Wu-Tang Clan (

GZA Gary Eldridge Grice (born August 22, 1966), better known by his stage names GZA ( ) and the Genius, is an American rapper. A founding member of the hip hop group Wu-Tang Clan, GZA is the group's "spiritual head", being both the first member in ...

Method Man Clifford Smith, Jr. (born March 2, 1971), known professionally as Method Man, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. He is a member of the East Coast hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan, and is half of the hip hop duo Method Man & R ...

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

Cappadonna Darryl Hill (born September 18, 1969), better known by his stage name Cappadonna, is an American rapper. He is a member of the hip hop collective Wu-Tang Clan and is a member of the hip hop group Theodore Unit together with Ghostface Killah. ...

, Killah Priest, and DJ Mathematics) during their first ever performance at the

Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

where they appeared as the headlining act for

Reason Rally The first Reason Rally was a public gathering for secularism and religious skepticism Religious skepticism is a type of skepticism relating to religion. Religious skeptics question religious authority and are not necessarily antireligious/cle ...

, one of the world's largest secular and religious skeptic gatherings. Richards' ''Batman & Jesus'' is an

-leaning documentary on the historicity of a

Jesus of Nazareth Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the central figure of Christianity, the world's largest religi ...

that stars Provenza and features interviews with many who Richards worked with previously on "Holy Shit", including Price, Carrier, Fitzgerald, and Killah Priest, as well as activist and podcaster

Aron Ra Aron Ra (formerly L. Aron Nelson, born October 15, 1962) is an atheist activist. Ra is the host of the ''Ra-Men Podcast'' and a member of the American Atheists board of directors. He had previously served as president of the Atheist Alliance of ...

. The film premiered at

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Pabst Theater The Pabst Theater is an indoor performance and concert venue and landmark of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Colloquially known as "the Pabst", the theater hosts about 100 events per year. Built in 1895, it is the fourth-oldest continuously ...

on September 30, 2017 following Mythinformation Conference IV which featured a live debate on "The Future of Islam in the Age of Trump" between

Asra Nomani Asra Quratulain Nomani (born June 7, 1965) is an Indian American journalist and author. Born in India to Muslim parents, she earned a BA from West Virginia University in liberal arts in 1986 and an MA from the American University in international ...

and Faisal Saeed Al-Mutar, who appears as an interviewee in Richards' film as well. Beyond religious examination, Richards has also released several broader projects and series within the comedy genre, including the web-series "Friday Night Weekly" that ran for two seasons, traveling to

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, and the

UAE The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a federal elective monarchy made up of seven emirates, with Abu Dhabi serving as i ...

in that time. Richards starred as himself in "Friday Night Weekly" and was joined by co-hosts Matt Henry, a Milwaukee area comedian, and future WYMS Radio Milwaukee

deejay A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at nightclubs or music festivals), mobile DJ ...

Makenzie Boettcher. Satirist Reuben Glaser was featured as the special reporter, and Aaron Fronk, Vince DeGaetano, and Cooper Johnson of FND Films guest starred in one of the series' most viewed episodes, "FND for Vendetta". Richards also worked with fellow

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

filmmaker

Mark Borchardt Mark Borchardt (born August 20, 1966) is an American independent filmmaker. He is best known as the subject of the 1999 film '' American Movie'', which documented three years he spent writing, shooting and editing his horror short ''Coven'' (1997 ...

of ''

American Movie ''American Movie'' is a 1999 American documentary film directed by Chris Smith, produced by Smith and Sarah Price, and edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann. Filmed between September 1995 and August 1997, ''American Movie'' documents the ...

'' on his first film, ''The Amateur Monster Movie'', which premiered at the Oriental Theatre on January 1, 2011 and was featured in the 2012

Wisconsin Film Festival The Wisconsin Film Festival is an annual film festival, founded in 1999. The festival is held every April in Madison, Wisconsin, and has recently been expanded from five days to eight days. The Festival presents a broad range of independent America ...

with a double screening on 4/20 and 4/21. Richards would later go on with Reuben Glaser, creator of 2012's "Little Face Mitt" meme, to create a widely covered segment at a

political rally Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of status or resources. The branch of social science that studies poli ...

Appleton, Wisconsin Appleton () is the county seat of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States, with small portions extending into Calumet County, Wisconsin, Calumet and Winnebago County, Wisconsin, Winnebago counties. Located on the Fox River (Green Bay tributary ...

for then-candidate

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

during his 2016 Presidential Campaign where they managed to get into the press box alongside reporters from

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

, and others, despite the Trump campaign's rigid entrance requirements and Richards and Glaser's blatant lack of adequate credentials. In 2018, Richards' fifth short film "Nicolas Cage Mother Mary" premiered at the Milwaukee Short Film Festival on September 8 where it won an Audience Favorite award. Richards was also featured on a filmmaker panel at the event discussing film in Wisconsin, hosted by Michael Viers of "The Shamelist Picture Show".

Kintou Media Company

In 2019, Richards announced on the official site of King's Tower Productions that control of its assets would be assumed by a new company, Kintou Media. Kintou Media Company was officially formed in 2020. In 2021, Richards completed and released his first children's picture book as author and illustrator, ''The Tocks on the Clock'', which became available in hardcover and ebook formats on December 1, 2021. In 2023, Richards began releasing his first new series with Kintou Media, "Japan by Foot."

Filmography

Since 2006, Jozef K. Richards has independently produced, directed, and released 3 feature films, 5 short films, and 4 web series.

Bibliography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Jozef K. Film directors from Wisconsin American male screenwriters American male film actors Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1989 births