Richard Shepard

Writer/director Richard Shepard cultivated an eclectic career in the 1990s and 2000s, helming numerous pilots and episodes for series like "Ugly Betty" (ABC 2006-2010) and "Girls" (HBO 2012- ) while also overseeing a string of darkly clever comedy-drama features like "The Matador" (2005) and "Dom Hemingway" (2013). The New York native began working in independent films and cable television before making a minor splash with the psycho-thriller "Oxygen" (1999). A half-decade would pass before he returned to films with "The Matador," a wry comedy with Pierce Brosnan in an impressive turn as a hired killer at the end of his rope. Shepard followed this with "The Hunting Party" (2009) and "I Knew It Was You: Rediscovering John Cazale" (HBO 2009) before scoring another hit with "Dom Hemingway," a crime comedy with Jude Law taking a similar path as Brosnan and playing against type as a vulgar safecracker. Shepard's talent for crafting both polished television and offbeat theatrical releases marked him as one of the most versatile directors in two mediums.