Walter Duch Richter (born December 7, 1945) is an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, pr ...

and

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. He is best known for adapting ''

Invasion of the Body Snatchers ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' is a 1956 American science fiction horror film produced by Walter Wanger, directed by Don Siegel, and starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter. The black-and-white film was shot in Superscope and in the film ...

'', directing '' The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension'' and co-writing ''

Big Trouble in Little China ''Big Trouble in Little China'' (also in known as ''John Carpenter's Big Trouble in Little China'') is a 1986 American fantasy action comedy film directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun and James Hong ...

''.

Biography

Richter graduated from

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

and attended

USC Film School The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts (SCA) houses seven academic divisions: Film & Television Production; Cinema & Media Studies; John C. Hench Division of Animation + Digital Arts; John Wells Division of Writing for Sc ...

. He began script writing for Hollywood in the 1970s. He wrote the comedy '' Slither'' (1973), followed by two similarly styled comedies, '' Peeper'' (1975) and ''

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its networks division's Kids and Family Group. It ...

'' (1976). He branched into other genres starting with the 1970s remake of ''Invasion of the Body Snatchers''. He wrote scripts throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In the early 1980s, Richter formed his own production company (with producer

Neil Canton Neil Canton (born 1948) is an American film producer from New York City best known for his work on the ''Back to the Future'' trilogy. Canton currently serves as an instructor and mentor at the American Film Institute Conservatory as a member ...

), Canton/Richter, and directed '' The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension''. The film did poorly at the box office, and the company ended. In 1981, he wrote a screenplay based on Eric Van Lustbader's novel ''

The Ninja ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'' for

Irvin Kershner Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923November 27, 2010) was an American film director, actor, and producer of film and television. He gained notice early in his career as a filmmaker for directing quirky, independent drama films ...

to direct with Richard Zanuck and David Brown and

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Disn ...

to produce, which ultimately never got made. Richter continued to write screenplays however, and has since written '' Home for the Holidays'' and ''

Stealth Stealth may refer to: Military * Stealth technology, technology used to conceal ships, aircraft, and missiles ** Stealth aircraft, aircraft which use stealth technology **Stealth ground vehicle, ground vehicles which use stealth technology ** St ...

''.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Richter, W. D. 1945 births Living people American male screenwriters Dartmouth College alumni Writers from New Britain, Connecticut Film directors from Connecticut Screenwriters from Connecticut Film producers from Connecticut