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Grigorij Richters
51 Degrees Composer and Queen guitarist Brian May with director Grigorij Richters outside Sarm Studios after a recording session.
Born
Grigorij S. Richters

(1987-05-21) May 21, 1987 (age 37)
Hamburg, Germany
Occupation(s)Director, Writer, Producer, Social Media Consultant
Years active1997–present
Websitehttp://www.51degreesmovie.com

Grigorij Richters (born May 21, 1987) is the Director of upcoming British independent film 51 Degrees, the former filmmaker-in-residence at Kevin Spacey's and Hamish Jenkinson's The Old Vic and The Old Vic Tunnels. He studied film at the prestigious Czech film school in Prague FAMU under film director Milos Forman. He previously directed the official film for the Opening Ceremony of the UEFA Champions League final 2013 and has been documenting Teenage Cancer Trust Ambassador and fundraiser Stephen Sutton's last 13 months before he lost his fight against cancer on May 13, 2014. Richters has also managed most of Stephen Sutton's web presence and has rebranded his social media around the StephensStory brand. Richters was a freelance Social Media consultant in New York City for MTV and VH1 and has directed several short films, documentaries and music videos.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Early Career

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Meridian SPA Imagefilm

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In 2002 (aged 14) he produced/directed his first professional commercial, a 5 minute TVC for Meridian SPA.[8]

Dean's Life

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In 2003 he directed the thirty minutes long short film "Dean's Life" before becoming a student at Hurtwood House. The film was starring German film actress and Bavarian Film Award winner Catherine Flemming and actor Christian Hinrichs.[9][10][11][12] The film was written by German screenwriter Georg Ludy and produced by Markus Gruber and his production company Memento Film, Hollywood producer Josef Steinberger (Hostage, Haven) and Sony ATV. The soundtrack "Listen to your Angel" was written by Frank Farian and Jacqueline Nemorin and produced by former head of Polygram Joost van Os and his label Cyclus Musikverlage.[13][14][15] The production span over three years and it had famous German movie actor Mario Adorf (The Tin Drum) attached to play "Ashriel" the angel, for twelve months until he dropped out due to scheduling conflicts with the film "A Christmoose Carol". Opera singer Arnold Busshoff took over the part.[16][17][18][19][20]

Egoli Tossell Film

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In the autumn of 2005 he moved to Berlin and worked as a production assistant for the production company Egoli Tossell Film where he worked on films such as Russian Ark, the Ellen Page movie Mouth to Mouth, Paul Verhoeven's World War II drama Black Book and the Ashley Judd vehicle Helen.[21][22][23][24]

Imagine, The death of Paul McCartney and John Lennon

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In 2003 a school friend gave Richters a book about Paul McCartney and the infamous Paul is dead conspiracy theory which suggests that Paul McCartney died in a car accident in 1966 and replaced by a double William Campbell.[25][26][27] The person who spread the theory, a student from Michigan, Detroit Tom Zarski had disappeared. Richters spent five years doing research on this topic until he made a short film about the subject matter while a student at FAMU in 2007. The film was shot on Super 16mm film and starring Jamie Doyle who portrayed John Lennon's murderer Mark David Chapman and Tom Zarski. Doyle collaborated on Richters's feature film 51 Degrees. Years after releasing '"IMAGINE'" on YouTube, Richters received an email allegedly from the real Tom Zarski in 2012 (in photo on the left). The film was originally uploaded to Richters's YouTube channel on February 12, 2008 and received mixed reviews because many viewers didn't agree with the theories presented in the short film.[28]

In a statement Richters said:

“I never believed in this conspiracy theory. I am convinced that this hoax was a part of former The Beatles manager Brian Epstein's brilliant marketing plan."

Emily Lazarus

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Richters met American filmmaker and frequent collaborator Dan Simon in 2007 in New York City. Simon had been working on a script for several years. Together they worked on several new drafts of the script until 2009 when Richters moved back to Germany. The script was workshopped with actress Caitlin Fitzgerald and actors Mark Borkowski and Michael Esper.[29][30]

The Old Vic and Old Vic Tunnels

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In 2010 the Old Vic Theatre officially acquired a new performance space beneath Waterloo Train station from BRB (Residuary) formerly British Rail.[31] In 2011, the Old Vic Tunnels won the British Prime Minister’s “Big Society Award” for its successful Volunteer Scheme.[32] In 2011 Richters and his producing partner Alex Souabni were appointed filmmakers-in-residence by Kevin Spacey and Hamish Jenkinson. They were originally hired to produce a short film starring Kevin Spacey which was directed by Richters and later appointed filmmakers-in-residence. During their two and a half year tenure until the closure of the The Old Vic Tunnels in 2013 they produced several projects such as the Old Vic Theatre's first ever live stream of the George Watsky concert in cooperation with YouTube. The concert was hosted by Hamish Jenkinson, featured many of YouTube's biggest names such as TomSka, Hannah Hart, Barely Political's Todd Womack, Megwin and many more.[33][34] In 2012 they filmed the Tom Jones summer concert.[35][36] Another highlight was a fundraiser by former US President Bill Clinton and Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow which was held at The Old Vic Tunnels.[37][38]

51 Degrees Movie

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In the summer of 2010 Richters and his former assistant Elliot Taylor were working on several web projects. During that time a friend sent Richters a link to the BBC Horizon documentary "The Good, the bad and the ugly". The documentary was about the threats posed by Asteroids. Richters quickly began doing very intense research on the subject matter and soon went into pre-production with a crew of three and his actor friend Moritz von Zeddelmann played the protagonist Damon Miller. 51 Degrees was shot between 2011 and 2014 in and around London,[39] initially using a skeleton crew and employing guerrilla filmmaking tactics. The crew included stunt coordinator Greg Powell[40] whose previous credits include the James Bond, Harry Potter and the Jason Bourne franchises. Also part of the crew were VFX Supervisor Marc Hutchings (Iron Man, Spider Man and The King's Speech) and Alien Colourist Stephen Barker joined the team.

The film was one of the largest productions ever to shoot at Piccadilly Circus, featuring over 2,500 extras.[41][42][43]

A London Metropolitan anti-terrorism unit detained the production team during filming at an abandoned building on South Bank. A security guard called the police after spotting the sound recordist waiting outside the building with a stepladder and several bags worth of mysterious-looking electrical wiring.[41]

Synopsis

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Damon Miller (Moritz von Zeddelmann) is a talented, young German filmmaker, living in London, grappling with the pressures of an impoverished profession and a dissolving relationship, who stumbles into the discovery that the Earth stands on the brink of an extraterrestrial disaster.

While Damon struggles to pay the bills, his dreams are clouded by a string of uninspiring corporate jobs. One routine assignment will change his life, though, as Damon is introduced to Professor Richards (Steve Nallon), an astrophysicist involved in the disturbing research into Near-Earth Objects. Damon takes a keen interest in the danger posed by asteroids to the Earth, and believes he has finally discovered the ideal subject for a documentary. His interest quickly turns into an obsession, however, as Damon delves ever deeper into his research, to the increasing distress of his newly pregnant girlfriend Ann (Dolly-Ann Osterloh) and his filmmaking partner Michael (Steven Cree).

With his loyal friend and cameraman Greg (Grigorij Richters) constantly at his side, Damon’s feverish explorations of the dangers posed by asteroids are filmed so they may be shared with the world. But when Damon goes public, he unwittingly puts himself in the path of shadowy British authorities with their own ambiguous agenda.

They inform Damon that the world will end in less than three weeks when a series of asteroids will strike the Earth. However, a glimmer of hope remains in the form of a secret space station orbiting the Earth that can house up to 2,000 people. In exchange for a ticket to this space station, they task Damon with documenting the final moments leading up to the asteroid strike.

Seeing an opportunity to save Ann and his unborn child, a chance to mend the rift his obsession has created, Damon accepts the assignment. As the end of days arrives, Damon watches London descend into madness, with families torn apart and friends lost. Armed only with his camera, Damon prepares to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the ones he loves.

By depicting cataclysmic events through the perspective of one individual, writer/director Grigorij Richters succeeds in crafting a truly human story about love, disillusionment and obsession in the face of overwhelming cosmic forces.[44][45]

Music

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51 Degrees Composer and Queen guitarist Brian May with 51 Degrees production team outside Sarm Studios after a recording session.

Brian May, guitarist of British rock band Queen composed the music for the film.[46][47][48][49]

In a quote Brian May said:

“This is a very different kind of disaster movie. No Bruce Willis here, to save life on Earth from extinction. Just humans searching for a way to live their last moments, and look for a way of saving ….. something. This is a movie to change perspectives - and now that we realise the high probability of such a strike from space, it is a timely warning indeed. I was inspired by the rushes, and honoured to be asked to contribute music for the film. We did the organic way … all of the pieces were played completely live to the final cut of the film."[50]

Starmus

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The Starmus Festival was started by Garik Israelian. The inaugural festival was held in 2011. Since then it has grown to become one of the major astronomical festivals in the world.[51] 51 Degrees has been selected by the Starmus Festival to headline it's second edition in September 2014. Speaker's of the second Starmus Festival edition include Stephen Hawking, Richard Dawkins and 51 Degrees Composer Brian May.[52][53]

UEFA Champions League Final Opening Ceremony 2013

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Grigorij Richters at CL Opening Ceremony 2013 at Wembley

The Opening ceremony was directed by Kevin Spacey's executive Assistant and princes trust ambassador Hamish Jenkinson and his business partner Jonny Grant who had previously directed the 2011 Opening Ceremony at Wembley Stadium. The Opening Ceremony was titled "Battle of Kings". The Ceremony was produced by Films United. It was directed and produced by Richters and his producing partner Alex Souabni. Both were the former filmmakers-in-residence of Kevin Spacey and Jenkinson at The Old Vic Theatre in London. The film focused around the story of activist and fundraiser Stephen Sutton, MBE who lost his fight against cancer after raising over £4 Million for the Teenage Cancer Trust. He was a part of the group of performers.[54][55][56]

Stephen's Story Documentary

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In April 2013 activist and fundraiser Stephen Sutton, MBE met Richters while rehearsing as part of the drummer group for the Opening Ceremony of the 2013 UEFA Champions League final. They quickly became friends. Richters and his team began following him around for several months, filming Sutton at home with his family and at several fundraisers. In the summer of 2013 Sutton went on vacation (his last travel) with his best friends. Richters quipped him with several GOPRO cameras. The documentary is currently in development and will be made into a feature length film in 2015.

Richters said:

“Two days before Stephen passed we talked about his legacy. He wanted to make sure that we remember him as the positive person he was and not as a cancer sufferer."

Besides making the documentary for Sutton, Richters and his team were tasked to rebrand his Facebook page /Stephensstory and have been managing most of his web presence and backend. They run his website in cooperation with the web design company Pixelloop[57][58][59] [60][60]

Personal Life

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Brian May with Snoopy and Dolly-Ann Osterloh

Richters was born on May, 21 1987 in Hamburg, Germany and got engaged on March 19, 2008 to German interior designer, model and actress Dolly-Ann Osterloh who has also been a frequent animal rights activist since they both moved to New York City in 2007. Richters and Osterloh moved to New York City with their dachshund dog Frenzi (passed away in November 2013) and they rescued a Chihuahua named Snoopy in January 2008. Both dogs were part of the cast of their movie 51 Degrees in supporting roles and have become a vital part of the movie's marketing campaign.

Richters explains:

“We shot the movie (51 Degrees) on such a tight budget using our own apartment (in London) as the main film location. Our dog Frenzi was usually very loud especially with so much crew around. We weren't able to keep her quite and you could say she forced her way into the movie. We eventually decided that she could play a vital part in making the main character, Damon Miller, (played by Moritz von Zeddelmann) more likeable and human. We eventually gave in and both Frenzi and Snoopy became vital parts of the film."

Films United Ltd

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Formerly "1994 Entertainment". Founded by Richters in 2007 in New York City and then re-registered with the UK Companies House in Great Britain in 2009 after Richters moved to London. As stated by Richters, the company's goal is: "To unite the world through film and be on the forefront of innovation." The company has since produced projects for The Old Vic Theatre, Kevin Spacey, Tom Jones, UEFA, President Clinton, The Kevin Spacey Foundation, YouTube, LG, Amazon, Stephen Sutton and many others.[61][62][38]

Wildlife Rocks

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Hawkwind performing at Wildlife rocks

In May 2014, Brian May's wildlife organisation SAVE-ME organised a charity concert at the Guildford Cathedral in Surrey, UK. Richters and his team were hired to film the concert which was featuring a world exclusive performance with The Troggs and Brian May performing Wild Thing for the first time. The concert also featured performances by Hawkwind and animal rights activist Virginia McKenna and Kerry Ellis.[63][64]

One Night Celebrity

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In 2008 Richters founded multimedia and events company EL-Entertainment in New York City (also known as EL-Celebrity, EL-Talent and Celebrity Adventure Services, short CAS) with it's headquarters at the prestigious address 1515 Broadway at the same address as MTV and VH1. The company's best known product was "One Night Celebrity". The concept was simple: "A paparazzi-for-hire service", as US lifestyle magazine Urban Daddy put it.[65][66][67]

Sunday Wise

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Kevin Spacey at Sunday Wise at The Ivy Club

In November 2012 Hamish Jenkinson has launched a new cerebral Sunday lunch experience together with Richters and Alex Souabni. Jenkinson describes it as: "A cerebral new Sunday Lunch experience with topical news from leading commentators, sharp satirical comedy and some slinky Sunday jazz."[68] The event was hosted at Lodnon's Ivy Club until January 2014 and moved to The Hospital Club in February 2014. Some past guests include: Alastair Campbell, Inge Solheim, Kevin O'Hare, Jon Ronson, Sir David Tang, Peter Kennard, Jude Kelly OBE and War Boutique.[69][70][71][72][73][74]

TV appearances

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Richters frequently appeared as a representative of activist and fundraiser Stephen Sutton on TV shows such as ITV's Good Morning Britain, BBC Midland's 6 o'clock news, ITV News and Japanese TV. In 2009 after a plane crashed into the Hudson river (also known as Miracle on Hudson), in front of Richters's New York City apartment at 22 River Terrace in Battery Park, he appeared on several News shows including Germany's N-TV and RTL. He also provided several American News Networks with exclusive video footage.

References

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  1. ^ Grigorij Richters profile on LinkedIn.
  2. ^ 51 Degrees website, Cast/Crew profiles.
  3. ^ Starmus website, featuring Grigorij Richters.
  4. ^ Bleeding cool, 51 Degrees asrticle.
  5. ^ iReport about 51 Degrees.
  6. ^ Stephen's Story on YouTube.
  7. ^ Stephen's Story Contact page.
  8. ^ Meridian SPA Image film, Video.
  9. ^ Christian Hinrichs on IMDB.
  10. ^ Christian Hinrichs on Schauspielervideos, German.
  11. ^ Christian Hinrichs Official website.
  12. ^ Christian Hinrichs Management profile.
  13. ^ Jalal The Wind of Change, Joost van Os credit.
  14. ^ Jacqueline Nemorin, profile.
  15. ^ Toby Gad, Bio, Jacqueline Nemorin.
  16. ^ A Christmoose Carol on IMDB.
  17. ^ Catherine Flemming on IMDB.
  18. ^ Dean's Life on IMDB.
  19. ^ Josef Steinberger on IMDB.
  20. ^ Sony ATV on IMDB.
  21. ^ Russian Ark Movie IMDB.
  22. ^ Mouth to Mouth IMDB.
  23. ^ Black Book Movie IMDB.
  24. ^ Helen Movie IMDB.
  25. ^ Time Magazine Paul is Dead article.
  26. ^ Museum of Hoax Paul is Dead article.
  27. ^ IMAGINE The film on Vimeo, Video.
  28. ^ IMAGINE, the film on Grigorij Richters YouTube channel, Retrieved June, 2014.
  29. ^ Emily Lazarus Concept, Video.
  30. ^ Emily Lazarus on IMDB.
  31. ^ Old Vic Tunnels profile on the Old Vic Theatre main website, Retrieved April, 2012.
  32. ^ Number10
  33. ^ George Watsky concert on YouTube, Video
  34. ^ TomSka Interview
  35. ^ Tom Jones, Summer Concert The Old Vic, Event magazine
  36. ^ Tatler, Old Vic Tunnels, Tom Jones
  37. ^ The Old Vic Tunnels, President Clinton, Video
  38. ^ a b The Old Vic Tunnels, President Clinton, Telegraph article Cite error: The named reference "TelegraphArticle" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  39. ^ List of Locations
  40. ^ Greg Powell IMDB
  41. ^ a b IMDB Trivia Page
  42. ^ Bleeding Cool, Film Magazine
  43. ^ APTN News Report
  44. ^ 51 Degrees IMDB Page "Storyline" section
  45. ^ 51 Degrees official website "Film" section
  46. ^ Brian May IMDB
  47. ^ Brian May's Official Blog
  48. ^ Italian QUEEN fan site
  49. ^ QUEEN fan forum
  50. ^ Brian May on 51 Degrees
  51. ^ Astronomy Magazine
  52. ^ Starmus announces 51 Degrees
  53. ^ Starmus announces Stephen Hawking
  54. ^ Irresistible Films Case Study
  55. ^ Pandemonium Drummers
  56. ^ [1]
  57. ^ BBC Birmingham article.
  58. ^ Express and Star article.
  59. ^ BBC article.
  60. ^ a b Telegraph article about Stephen Sutton. Cite error: The named reference "Telegrapharticle" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  61. ^ Films United website.
  62. ^ Films United featured in Express and Star.
  63. ^ Get Surrey Brian May, article.
  64. ^ Brian May, Wildlife Rocks, video.
  65. ^ Urban Daddy Lifestyle magazine, article
  66. ^ YouTube video, One Night Celebrity promotional video
  67. ^ YouTube video, One Night Celebrity promotional video02
  68. ^ Sunday Wise, About page
  69. ^ Sunday Wise, Lineup
  70. ^ Sunday Wise, About page
  71. ^ Red Online, Sunday Wise article
  72. ^ The Hospital Club, Sunday Wise
  73. ^ Sunday Wise, Quintessentially article
  74. ^ Sunday Wise, Craftivist Collective article
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DEFAULTSORT:Jenkinson, Hamish Category:1977 births Category:Living people Category:British charity and campaign group workers Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:People from London

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