JP Richards has left his post as Apple’s Head of Film Marketing Strategy, having notified his team of his decision this morning, Deadline can confirm.
Richards joined the company from Warner Bros. Pictures in January of last year, overseeing marketing campaigns for films across the Apple ecosystem and reporting to Head of Video Marketing, Chris Van Amburg. While it’s unclear as yet where Richards will land, we hear that Apple will name his replacement within a matter of weeks.
Richards presided over the marketing for the studio’s first Best Picture Oscar winner CODA, along with such titles as the Tom Hanks starrer Finch, Benjamin Cleary’s sci-fi drama Swan Song, starring Mahershala Ali, and Cherry with Tom Holland. He previously served as Co-President of Worldwide Marketing for Warner Bros., there overseeing campaigns for titles ranging from Creed to The Conjuring, Joker and A Star Is Born.
Prior to his time at that studio, Richards was at Universal Pictures for over a decade, there overseeing digital campaigns for franchises like Fast & Furious and Despicable Me.
Upcoming films from Apple include writer-director Cooper Raif’s Sundance Dramatic Audience Award winner Cha Cha Real Smooth; its animated feature Luck with Skydance; the feature docs Black & Blues: The Colorful Ballad of Louis Armstrong and The Sound of 007; Raymond & Ray, starring Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke; Peter Farrelly’s dramedy The Greatest Beer Run Ever; the holiday film Spirited, starring Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell and Octavia Spencer; Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio’s Killers of the Flower Moon; Matthew Vaughn’s spy thriller Argylle; the thriller Sharper, starring Julianne Moore, Sebastian Stan, Justice Smith, Briana Middleton and John Lithgow; Tetris, starring Taron Egerton; and Antoine Fuqua’s Will Smith starrer Emancipation.
