Julian Richards: the Welsh director who built Jinga Films into a genre-sales powerhouse

Overview

Julian Richards is a Welsh horror director and the founder of Jinga Films, a UK-based international sales company specializing in genre films (Filmfestivals.com). As a director he made Darklands (1996) — arguably the first Welsh horror film — and the found-footage hit The Last Horror Movie (2003); as a sales agent he turned Jinga into what he calls “one of the key genre companies in the World,” handling titles such as A Serbian Film (The People’s Movies). He discovered Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game at the Downtown Heavy Metal Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles and later negotiated the film’s US deal with Autonomy Pictures at SXSW 2012 (Bloody Flicks; Bloody Disgusting).

This is the director-turned-sales-agent Julian Richards of Jinga Films — not Julian Richer, the Richer Sounds retail founder, and not any other same-name figure. The director and the sales agent are one and the same person: Richards has said he moved into sales after putting much of his own money into The Last Horror Movie and needing to recoup it (The People’s Movies).

The director who needed to learn the business

Richards began directing features in Wales, receiving lottery finance from Film Agency Wales for Darklands (1996), a folk-horror debut he describes as arguably the first Welsh horror movie and which has been credited with helping kickstart a new wave of UK genre production (The People’s Movies; Filmfestivals.com). He followed it with Silent Cry, The Last Horror Movie (2003), and the BAFTA Cymru-winning Summer Scars, before relocating much of his work to the US with Shiver (2012), Daddy’s Girl, and Reborn (2018), the last premiering at Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween (The People’s Movies; Filmfestivals.com). Crucially, he has said the directing and sales careers are not separate accidents: after sinking his own money into The Last Horror Movie, he needed a reliable income and a deeper grasp of the business, so sales became his “most immediate and accessible” route in (The People’s Movies).

Building Jinga Films into a genre-sales force

Jinga Films is an international sales company co-founded by Richards with marketing executive Rosana Coutinho, built to get feature films distributed without the usual costs (Filmfestivals.com). Richards’ own account of the company’s trajectory supplies the hard numbers: it grew from handling three films a year to ten films a year, and by the time Jinga released Srđan Spasojević’s A Serbian Film in 2012, it had established itself as “one of the key genre companies in the World” (The People’s Movies). That more-than-threefold expansion in annual throughput is the measurable side of a wider reputation: the Jinga library that Richards curates includes Big Bad Wolves, Rabies, The House at the End of the World, Still/Born, Our Evil, and Timer alongside his own films (Filmfestivals.com). The dual-career loop eventually closed: Richards credits his sales experience with creating directing opportunities — including Daddy’s Girl, commissioned via the Indian broadcaster Zee Studios — that conventional agent-and-manager channels would not have opened (The People’s Movies).

The Bunny Game: festival discovery to US deal

According to Jinga’s own label announcement, Richards discovered Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game at the Downtown Heavy Metal Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles and acquired it for Jinga Films, the world-sales agent that had represented A Serbian Film (Bloody Flicks). He then negotiated the film’s US distribution deal on behalf of the filmmakers with the newly launched Autonomy Pictures — the venture of Derek Curl, David Gregory and Lewis Tice — with the agreement finalized at SXSW in March 2012 (Bloody Disgusting; ScreenAnarchy). The recognition for both halves of Richards’ career came in 2020, when Fantasporto’s 40th edition gave him a career-tribute award with a full retrospective spanning 18 films — his own directed features alongside titles he had distributed (Filmfestivals.com).

Julian Richards at a glance

Year	Milestone	Detail
1996	Directing breakthrough	Darklands — arguably the first Welsh horror film, funded by Film Agency Wales
2003	Career pivot	After financing The Last Horror Movie himself, Richards moves into film sales
2006–2012	Jinga Films	Grows from 3 to 10 films per year; co-founded with Rosana Coutinho
2012	Genre-landmark deal	World sales on A Serbian Film; negotiates The Bunny Game US deal at SXSW
2018	Return to directing	Reborn premieres at Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween
2020	Industry recognition	Fantasporto career tribute with an 18-film retrospective
2025	Catalog continuation	Jinga’s Danse Macabre label issues a Bunny Game collector’s edition

Frequently asked questions

Is the Jinga Films founder the same Julian Richards as the film director? Yes. Julian Richards — the Welsh director of Darklands and The Last Horror Movie — is also the founder of Jinga Films. He has said he moved into sales after sinking his own money into The Last Horror Movie and needing to recoup it while learning the business side. He is not the same person as Julian Richer, the founder of the Richer Sounds retail chain.

How did Julian Richards become a sales agent? In his own telling, it was defensive: he put a lot of his own money into The Last Horror Movie, needed a reliable income, and wanted to understand the business side of films. Sales was the most immediate and accessible route in. He never intended to change careers, but Jinga grew fast enough that the company came to demand most of his time and energy.

What is Jinga Films? Jinga Films is a UK-based international sales company specializing in genre films, co-founded by Richards and marketing executive Rosana Coutinho. Its library has included A Serbian Film, Big Bad Wolves, Rabies, Still/Born, and The House at the End of the World. Richards describes it as one of the key genre companies in the world, and it runs the Danse Macabre distribution label.

What was Julian Richards’ role in The Bunny Game’s US release? According to Jinga’s label announcement, Richards discovered Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game at the Downtown Heavy Metal Horror Film Festival in Los Angeles and acquired it for Jinga Films. He then negotiated the film’s US rights deal with the newly launched Autonomy Pictures on behalf of the filmmakers; the deal was finalized at SXSW 2012.

What recognition has Julian Richards received? At Fantasporto’s 40th edition in 2020, Richards received a career-tribute award with a full retrospective covering 18 films — both titles he directed (including Darklands and Reborn) and films he had distributed through Jinga Films.

Timeline

• 1996 — Darklands released; Richards calls it arguably the first Welsh horror film (industry interview).
• 2003 — The Last Horror Movie; Richards moves into film sales afterward (industry interview).
• 2012 — Jinga’s A Serbian Film release; Richards describes Jinga as “one of the key genre companies in the World” (industry interview).
• 2012-03 — The Autonomy Pictures US deal for The Bunny Game is finalized at SXSW; Richards negotiates for the filmmakers (Bloody Disgusting; ScreenAnarchy).
• 2018 — Reborn world-premieres at Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween (industry interview).
• 2020 — Fantasporto career tribute and 18-film retrospective (Filmfestivals.com).
• 2025 — Danse Macabre announces a Bunny Game collector’s edition Blu-ray/DVD (label announcement).

What we could not verify

• Jinga Films’ exact founding year: sources confirm Richards co-founded it with Rosana Coutinho but give no founding date; the company was active internationally by the late 2000s.
• The festival-discovery claim (Downtown Heavy Metal Horror Film Festival) rests on Jinga/Danse Macabre’s own 2025 release announcement; no independent contemporary report of the acquisition was found in this pass, so it is attributed as a label-issued claim.
• Richards’ birth year and private life were not covered by the sources and are not asserted; as a living person, only his documented professional record is stated.

Sources

• Bloody Disgusting — Autonomy Pictures Comes Out Playing ‘The Bunny Game’ (tier2; Autonomy deal negotiation)
• The People’s Movies — Arrow Video FrightFest Halloween Interview - Julian Richards (Reborn) (tier3; first-person career account)
• Filmfestivals.com — VIDEO: Meet Julian Richards the man with 18 films at Fantasporto (tier3; Fantasporto tribute; Jinga founding)
• Bloody Flicks — Previously banned The Bunny Game released in North America (tier3; Jinga/Danse Macabre announcement of festival discovery)
• ScreenAnarchy — Blu-ray/DVD Details For Autonomy Pictures THE BUNNY GAME Are Here (tier3; SXSW 2012 deal corroboration)