Karen Richards began her career in the arts with Raindog Theatre Company in Glasgow. Upon moving to Ireland, Richards worked as an assistant director on projects such as In America, Veronica Guerin, and Saving Private Ryan, for which she and her team won the 1999 DGA Award. Richards went on to work as a production manager on Leap Year, Fifty Dead Men Walking, and Showtime's The Tudors. In 2009 Richards was a producer on Neil Jordan's Ondine and has since produced a range of projects, from the award-winning drama As If I'm Not There to large-scale television productions including The Borgias and Penny Dreadful.