Richard Lester

RICHARD LESTER. American film director based in Britain. He is best known for his work with the Beatles in the 1960s and his work on the Superman II & III films of the 1980s. The Running Jumping & Standing Still film was a favourite of the Beatles and in particular John Lennon. When the band members were contracted to make a feature film, they chose Lester from a list of possible directors. A Hard Days Night (1964) showed an exaggerated and simplified version of The Beatles' characters and proved to be an effective marketing tool. Many of its stylistic innovations survive today as the conventions of music videos, in particular the multi-angle filming of a live performance. He was sent an award from MTV as "Father of the Music Video." The film was a huge critical and commercial success. He later followed this with the second Beatles film Help ! (1965) which was another huge commercial success.