Peter Gathings Bunche

Smitten by radio and Broadway Theater in his teens, Peter attended Boston's prestigious Emerson College with dreams of becoming a great American playwright or an important radio disc jockey. He not only disc jockeyed but also became a Producer and Program Director of WERS. At this time, Mr. Bunche also made his playwriting debut. His work garnered attention from Broadway figures: Richard Wesley, Charles Fuller, Ed Bullins, Garland Lee Thompson, and Woodie King. Simultaneously, Peter worked as a producer of promos and documentaries for the PBS flagship station, WNET in which he produced 12 short documentaries before the age of 21. He later attended Hunter College studying with the late Tony winning director, Lloyd Richards. As a member of writing groups at the Negro Ensemble Company, New Federal Theater and Frank Silvera's Writing Workshop, Mr. Bunche directed many (Off-off Broadway) staged play readings, working with Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Townsend, Bill Cobbs, Richard Gant, Reginald Vel Johnson, the late Adolph Caesar and Miguel Pinero to name a few. Peter considers his "incubation" under such luminaries as the core of his art. One of Mr. Bunche's quests is to adapt modern classical Theater pieces for wider audiences. Perhaps best known for his major music video clips and as the auteur of HBO's acclaimed motion picture "Butter" (Starring Terrence Howard, Ernie Hudson, Shemar Moore, Donnie Wahlberg and Nia Long), Mr. Bunche has had a long history as a creator of moving pictures. As the music video phenomenon began to emerge in the early '80's, Bunche saw the fusion of music and film as a logical marriage for his two loves. Shortly after, he founded Furious Films. This company was the first African-American owned music video company in American music history. His landmark clips for Cameo, Whodini, Branford Marsalis, Miles Davis, Full Force, Mtume, Big Audio Dynamite and Def Leppard established Mr. Bunche as a major player in the music industry early on. His two music video companies, Furious Films (New York), and Camdentown Productions (London) are credited with putting the first Rap Music videos into MTV's rotation in both the United States and Europe. Mr. Bunche also produced and directed the first Rap Music Award Show in industry history - Urban Teen Music Awards from the Apollo Theater in 1989. Bunche served for five years as a Producer and Consultant with EMCI, the top event and entertainment-marketing firm in the world. While in tenure there, Bunche was a driving force behind worldwide Pepsi - "Hammer" and Ray Charles campaigns. He toured the world with "Hammer", Michael Jackson, Sting, and Rod Stewart shooting them among others on Pepsi's behalf. At EMCI, Bunche also helped mastermind and create the now famous Fox Network Superbowl Halftime Counter program show; first with Living Color and Hammer Live, then with Prince and Living Color. In addition, Bunche produced and directed 15 live broadcasts of Fuji Television's "Yamata No Orachi" - a live international music show with artists such as Quincy Jones, En Vogue, James Brown, Rod Stewart and others. They were a ratings bonanza in Asia and set a new bar for live music television. Bunche left in the mid - 1990s to pursue writing, producing and directing films full-time.He was regarded as one of the elite strategic marketing experts in the music world and he still consults on projects today. Other work of note is Bunche's hit festival film "The Jacket", a classic, yet cutting edge coming-of-age-tale, which garnered widespread notice on the festival circuits and a Short Film Oscar Nomination. It is prototypical of his talents as a writer and director. He was later be nominated for many other festival awards in the Short Film category as a Producer for "Move". He also served as Second Unit Director for New York Undercover. Brought on by producers Don Kurt and Arthur Forney to create special music video openings and action sequences for numerous special episodes. Bunche then created "Champions", a stylized, low budget, cult, fight film set in the world of Ultimate Fighting. It stars Louis Mandylor, Danny Trejo and Ken Shamrock. It is a cable and rental staple for fight fans worldwide. A low budget classic. Of further note, Mr. Bunche wrote, directed and co-produced "Butter" for HBO. Widely regarded as one of the best urban cable movies made to date, "Butter" stars Terence Howard, Nia Long, Ernie Hudson Donnie Wahlberg and has sold over 400,000 Video/DVD units. It was the first HBO film to have a Soundtrack, which he set up and executive produced for Sony Records. Bunche wrote the teleplay for Leon Bing's best-selling book, "Do or Die"; an assignment for NBC - produced by Quincy Jones and Joel Simon. He then adapted the novel "White Rush, Green Fire" for the screen as well as the historical expose, "Scottsboro Man" for Showtime with Louis Gossett Jr., executive producing. He also scripted "Neosoul", a New York underground music drama for Soul Kitchen Productions, "Coach Jake"(Universal), and the action thriller "In A Silent Way" (Sony). Additionally, Peter wrote and directed "The Playmaker", a taught prophetic thriller set in the juxtaposed worlds of urban gang culture and the NFL. He is currently attached to direct a remake of David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning, "Glengarry Glen Ross" for his own company, and of late, has penned and shall direct a timely international political thriller set in the world of Washington Think Tanks and developing nations, entitled "Banana Republic," set to go into production in 2016 for Empire Film Group. Along with this, three other films are in development: a new political/sexual thriller in collaboration with New York Performance Artist, Margaret H.Baker; "The Deportables" a series pilot for HBO and the art world thriller, "Cold Cruel World" as a major video game and feature film. In addition, Mr. Bunche is in the process of developing a Christopher Hitchens piece, based on his late friend. He is also co-writing with Ms. Baker for a second time on a series pilot entitled "Naked". Mr. Bunche is passionate about social issues and is active through his work. He has written policy speeches for several political campaigns: including Moveon.org, Demos, and for the 2008 Primary and Presidential run for President Obama, and the former Governor David Patterson, among others. Peter Gathings Bunche is represented by Mark Lichtman of The Lichtman Group in Los Angeles, CA.