About Me

I always wondered what role I might have at the end of the world. I didn’t think there would be much space for storytellers. Turns out, I was wrong. In times defined by metacrisis and a need for change, we need narratives to challenge the structures, authorities and systems that contributed to our existential challenges.

My work is dedicated to learning how to tell those stories effectively and often in unexpected ways, and then telling them in my films and writing. (Yes, that includes OnlyFans.)

THE BIO

Jessica Riches is a filmmaker and narrative strategist, with expertise in storytelling to communicate existential crisis to hard-to-reach audiences – specifically climate change, AI risk, and wealth inequality. She works independently, and with established brands, and cultural and philanthropic organisations.

Jess is a respected researcher in existential crisis communication to reach modern audiences, having completed prestigious fellowships in impact storytelling with UCL’s Climate Action Unit and the Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, the Churchill Fellowship, and the Bay Area’s Frame Fellowship on AI safety. She has presented her findings at the Vatican, the UN General Assembly, London Climate Action Week, the CogX AI Summit at the O2 Arena, and the BFI Future Filmmaker Summit. Her writing has appeared in outlets including Huffington Post, LBC, Positive News, she has featured on broadcasts on BBC, ITV, LBC and Channel 4 News, and her work has been covered by the Guardian, LRB and OpenDemocracy, with multiple academic citations, and as a prominent case study in economist Paul Mason’s 2012 book.

Her critical perspective is the value of using unexpected celebrities and influencers to connect with ordinary audiences and generate mass appeal. After persuading Hugh Grant to join Twitter in 2012 alongside the Leveson Inquiry, she has gone on to help countless public figures with their online presence. She regularly works with TikTok on their creator-led impact campaigns, and the UN’s Verified for Climate creator initiative, and has delivered talent-first campaigns for organisations including the Wellcome Trust, M&S, Google, Playstation, Virgin, and Baileys.

Jess is best known for her recent work with Adam McKay (director of The Big Short, Anchorman, and Succession) – Headline Newds – the first ever climate campaign starring famous OnlyFans creators – which she cocreated, produced, wrote, and directed, in collaboration with Megan Prescott, star of E4’s BAFTA-winning show Skins, and Bree Essrig, a prolific YouTuber.

As a filmmaker, Jess has made 5 short films in 3 years, which have won awards and played at BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying festivals globally. Her first feature film was optioned by former Secretary of State John Kerry, and was developed for TV. She has written a podcast series performed by Stephen Fry and executive produced by Joanna Lumley, and was commissioned to write the film adaptation of an award-winning children’s book series about AI and climate, published by the same man who discovered Harry Potter.

Jess is committed to supporting the next generation of filmmakers, as the founder of Messy Collective – a community for emerging female, trans and NB writers with over 3000 members; a script reader for the prestigious Austin Film Festival and CineStory Labs; a jury member for Watersprite, the world’s largest student film festival; and a mentor for Film London.

THE STORY BEHIND IT

My career began with an injunction from my university. I was a hashtag-obsessed student activist who got refused graduation for protesting incessantly. Luckily, the media attention this generated – books, films and academic papers documenting our campaigns – led to me running digital strategy for the Hacked Off press regulation campaign during the Leveson Inquiry, where I persuaded Hugh Grant to join Twitter. (He’s never fully forgiven me.)

I was truly a cyber-utopian, obsessed with how social media and new technologies would democratise society and change the world for the better. The decade that followed saw me becoming a senior digital strategist, specialising in building engaging voices and personalities online – working across global brands, Silicon Valley startups, and high-impact social impact campaigns.

Like many people, 2016 shifted something in me. The promise of the internet seemed lost among all of the ways it was being used to further existing corruption through algorithmic manipulation and widespread mis- and disinformation. My focus very much shifted. Since then, my narrative strategy work has zeroed in on climate and AI safety campaigning – with clients including the UN, the Wellcome Trust, TikTok, Fortescue, CIFF, and the UK Government across various departments.

I’ve also been focused on understanding the role of stories and entertainment in effectively communicating crisis – through research at UCL’s Climate Action Unit, the Frame Fellowship, the Climate Spring Hot House, the Global Rise workshops, and the Churchill Fellowship, as well as the 2024 report on hope in climate comms I authored for the UN General Assembly.

Alongside all of this, I’ve been telling my own stories, all with an underlying existential message. I’ve produced, written and directed many narrative projects, which have screened at BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying festivals, been supported by filmmakers including Ari Aster and Adam McKay and Secretary of State John Kerry, and won awards worldwide: including the Audience Award at the Climate Film Festival pitch contest, a Lovie, and a Webby. I thank my collaborator Casey Newell for helping me take films from ideas to screens.

I also think it’s imperative that we raise up new and often marginalised voices with the power to challenge existing power structures. That’s why I work extensively to support new storytellers breaking into the industry.

And if you’re just here to find out what made me join OnlyFans: Desperate times call for desperate measures! I started that page – and its Substack partner – to show how we have to try EVERYTHING we can to get the message out there when it comes to existential risks. I launched the page to coincide with the launch of Headline Newds with Adam McKay’s Yellow Dot Studios, collaborating with creators far more talented than myself, which has achieved more views by several millions. 🪭 link below