Richard Lear
President and Founder
Little Ricky Productions, Inc.

The recent tragedies in our nation are the reason I decided to create this company. The home I was raised in as a child was one of equality. My four sisters and I were taught that everyone was created equally. The color of your skin, your sex, religion or sexual orientation did not matter. This was a progressive household for Arkansas in the 60's. I might also add that my father was a minister of the Church of Christ. Although there was no prejudice in our home, you knew it was present in the world the minute you stepped outside.

In the 80's I moved to Los Angeles to continue my education. The issue of prejudice seemed to be less apparent. When I moved to New York City in the 90's, I finally felt the world had grown to what I had been taught as a child. Sure I saw moments of prejudice, but for the most part it seemed that difference was being at least tolerated, if not embraced.

My naivete` was brought to a crashing halt when James Byrd Jr. was dragged to his death in Jasper, Texas, because of the color of his skin. Shortly after that Matthew Shepard was tied to a fence, beaten and burned because of his sexual orientation. The list of tragedies has continued on over the
years with Columbine High School, Billy Jack Gathers, the eight year old who brought a gun to school and shot his classmate and on and on.

I am a firm believer that the film industry is at least partly responsible for what has happened in society. The public is barraged with shoot-em-up films where no one pays a price. An arsenal of weapons appears out of thin air. A mass onslaught occurs and many people are killed. The good guy never dies or shows remorse for the people he/she has killed. The public is desensitized by the blood and gore that is plastered on every screen.

I do not believe that violence should be removed from film. Our world is a violent place. Rarely can you turn on the television without hearing of a murder, or some other tragedy. The revenue generated from murder mystery novels alone leads one to believe society is fascinated by it. I just feel that the entertainment industry has gone too far. Alfred Hitchcock frightened the world to death with a knife, a shower curtain and a can of Hershey's syrup.

Little Ricky Productions is determined to produce feature films that reach the moral conscience of America. (Please note, the word "moral" has nothing to do with religion.) It is time for quality stories to be told. It is time to allow the viewer to have their own reaction instead of desensitizing them with gunfights, blood and gore.

I hope I will garner your support in my endeavor.

Sincerely,

Richard Lear