Jessica Riches

Jessica Riches is a London-based writer, best known for the stupid things she used to say about the internet, persuading Hugh Grant to join Twitter, and getting an injunction instead of graduating from her university. She draws on her decade of experience working in political lobbies and tech start-ups, her activism and various legal challenges with authority, her crazy family and queer community, her surprisingly young divorce, and her burning desire to save this crumbling planet. 

Her first short film, horror romance BEAUTIFUL THINGS (House38 and RWI Productions) is being submitted to festivals, directed by Maya Zupano (Institute Artists) and starring Tallulah Haddon (The Last Duel, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch), Loreece Harrison (Pennyworth, Misbehaviour, Black Mirror) and Tom Stourton (All My Friends Hate Me, About Time, Stath Lets Flats). She's currently working on three additional short films, including a proof-of-concept for her feature UNCLE LUKE produced by and starring Mike Parr (Emmerdale). 

Jessica co-founded the MESSY WOMEN new writing collective and showcase with Sorcha Kurien-Walsh (BBC Studios, Rivals on Disney+) and Isobel Bruce (Ingenue Theatre), focused on building a fun and inclusive space for writers to connect and experiment with new work that interrogates the media's portrayal of troubled women.