Production Title: Painkiller
Rich Walker is a London based writer and director. His Prime Video Workshop project is Painkiller, a near-future psychological drama about Hakeem, a black father trying to manage his emotions and be a positive role model for his teenage son.
Prior to Painkiller, Rich made two short films. In 2020 he wrote and directed Cornerboy starring Josh Herdman (Harry Potter), a drama that looks at the psychology of weight-cutting in mixed martial arts. In 2021 he made The South Stand starring Cornell John (Kidulthood); a period drama about a group of black football players in the late 1970s who experience horrific racist abuse from the crowd.
Rich came to filmmaking through his background in advertising as a producer, after which he started directing branded films and social media. His passion however, has always been in drama, and he’s keen to focus his career in the scripted narrative space as a director and writer.
He’s excited by navigating the human condition through storytelling, and he’s also passionate about exploring the millions of different kinds of Black British experience and bringing more of these to the screen.
Rich is currently developing his debut feature screenplay, as well as a number of television series ideas.