Rich Murray's directorial debut in the feature film world came with the 2001 release "Snipes", which premiered at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival, before being commercially released in 2002 through his own company RuffNation Films in association with Columbia/Tri-Star.
Prior to "Snipes", Murray had already directed over 125 music videos for a diverse range of artists, including Kris Kross, Spin Doctors, Fugees, Arrested Development, Monica, Jeff Healy, and Billy Ray Cyrus. This impressive list of credits makes him a unique director who has had a number one video in four different genres of music.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Murray was influenced by the gritty, working-class neighborhood depicted in the film "Rocky". His interest in filmmaking began at a young age, and after graduating from Temple University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communications in 1984, he started his professional career by directing some of the earliest rap videos for hip-hop legends Schoolly D and Roxanne Shante.
Murray then began his apprenticeship as a line-producer and assistant director on a list of low-budget independent film projects. In 1988, he joined The Director's Guild of America as an assistant director, and his credits include "Cadillac Man" (1990),"Last Exit to Brooklyn" (1989),and "She-Devil" (1989).
In the 1990s, Murray focused exclusively on directing music videos, earning numerous award nominations for his work. In 1999, he launched RuffNation Films with his long-time friend, RuffHouse Records Chairman Chris Schwartz. The two partners envisioned RuffNation Films as a music-film hybrid, taking full advantage of the expertise they had gathered during 18 years in the music and film industry.
