Peter Richardson's work as a director and showrunner has gained widespread recognition, with features and series airing on HBO, Netflix, Showtime, National Geographic, OWN, and the Sundance Channel and awards for Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival and an Emmy Nomination for Best Documentary. His first two feature documentaries premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The latter, "How to Die in Oregon", won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary and aired on HBO. The Chicago Sun-Times said the film, "will likely be viewed as one of the most historically significant documentaries of this decade." Richardson has worked extensively on premium documentary series, most recently as show runner of "QB1: Beyond the Lights", now in its fourth season on Netflix and Executive Produced by Peter Berg. Prior to QB1, Richardson directed the documentary segments for season 1 of National Geographic's groundbreaking series "Mars", Executive Produced by Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. For Showtime, he was co-Executive Producer on season 2 of "The Circus: The Greatest Political Show on Earth" and was Series Director on season 1 and 2 of "Dark Net." He started his work on premium documentary as a series director on Oprah Winfrey's "Belief", a landmark 7-part global series narrated and Executive Produced by Ms Winfrey. In addition to his work as a director and showrunner, Richardson was cinematographer on three HBO Documentary films and won the award for Best Editing at IFFBoston for "How to Die in Oregon."
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Biography from IMDb.
- Director, editor and producer, also cinematographer
- 6 on MovieCove
What are Peter Richardson's films like?
Across their 6 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Society and Survival.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 4
Light 1 · Serious 2 · Dark 1
Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 0
A split, not a type: Gentle 2 · Charged 1 · Intense 1
Steady 4 · Shifting 0 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 4 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0
Casual 1 · Engaged 3 · Full focus 0
Easy watch 1 · Affecting 2 · Heavy 1
A split, not a type: Resolved 2 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
- Happy2
- Bittersweet1
- Ambiguous2
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Peter Richardson's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 4 of their 6 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service, most on HBO Max (2).
Subscription and free streaming for Peter Richardson's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
6 credits, 6 with a MovieCove page.
World Eats Bread(2024)
Midcredits score: 56th percentile of all shows
Midcredits score: 57th percentile of all films
Dark Net(2016)
Midcredits score: 44th percentile of all shows
How to Die in Oregon(2011)
Midcredits score: 99th percentile of all films
Saving Pelican 895(2011)
Midcredits score: 88th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 98th percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 3 titles from 2005 to 2023.
Awards
Won a Sundance award in 2011, Documentary.
Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.
How do Peter Richardson's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 93rd percentile, the median of all 4; across a limited sample of 4 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 91st percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up3
- 50th to 74th2
- 25th to 49th1
Shape of the crowd
3 of their 6 titles are Mixed.
- Universally Loved2
- Crowd Pleaser1
- Mixed3
Reviewers score the atmosphere 68/100 and the pacing 56/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Peter Richardson work with?
People who share at least 2 of Peter Richardson's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Irene Taylor shares the most, 2.
Directors
- Irene TaylorShared titles: Trees, and Other Entanglements (2023), Saving Pelican 895 (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Irene Taylor
Composers
- Joel GoodmanShared titles: Trees, and Other Entanglements (2023), Saving Pelican 895 (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Joel Goodman
Producers
- Jordan CurnesShared titles: How to Die in Oregon (2011), Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Jordan Curnes
- Melody KorenbrotShared titles: How to Die in Oregon (2011), Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon (2006)See all 2 shared titles with Melody Korenbrot
- Sophie HarrisShared titles: How to Die in Oregon (2011), Saving Pelican 895 (2011)See all 2 shared titles with Sophie Harris
