Guy Lionel Ritchie (born 10 September 1968 in Hatfield, Hertfordshire is a English screenwriter and film director.

Ritchie directed a 20-minute short film in 1995 entitled The Hard Case. His first full-length feature was the successful Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels in 1998. Recalling Quentin Tarantino, The Sting and The Italian Job, the film was widely praised for its wit. It also introduced actor Jason Statham (The Transporter) to worldwide audiences, and introduced former footballer Vinnie Jones to a new career as a film star. In 2000 Ritchie won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Motion Picture Screenplay.

His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio following the previous success of Lock, Stock. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt, Benicio del Toro and Dennis Farina, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to "Lock, Stock" in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives and recalling such classic crime films as Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.

Ritchie created and produced a spin-off television series called Lock, Stock....

Following his marriage to Madonna, Ritchie began focusing his filmmaking on his famous wife, directing her in both a music video (for the song "What It Feels Like for a Girl," a controversial video that showed Madonna engaging in running people down with a car) and a short film, "Star", for the BMW films series. Ritchie's next film, also featuring Madonna, was a remake of the 1974 Lina Wertmüller hit Swept Away (also entitled Swept Away). Ritchie cast Madonna as a rich, rude, socialite who, after a shipwreck, is trapped on a deserted island with a slovenly Communist sailor who humiliates her. Ritchie renamed the woman Amber Leighton after his mother. This film was both a critical and commercial disappointment.

Ritchie's next project was a Vegas-themed heist film entitled Revolver, which was critically panned.

Another project Guy Ritchie was involved with was a hidden camera show called Swag, for channel Five in the UK, which turned the table on criminals and opportunists by using stunts to trap them in the act.

Ritchie has also written and directed RocknRolla starring Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Gerard Butler, Tom Hardy, Jeremy Piven, Thandie Newton, and Tom Wilkinson. Ritchie will also direct a film based on a comic book series he created with Virgin Comics entitled Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper. The film rights were acquired by Warner Brothers in July 2007. The film's being produced by Silver Pictures.

In 2008, Ritchie directed a commercial for Nike called "Take It To The Next Level", about a young Dutch footballer who signs for Arsenal, showing the progression of his career from his viewpoint, until he makes his debut for the Netherlands. The commercial features cameo appearances from Arsene Wenger, William Gallas, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo, Cesc Fabregas, Marco Materazzi, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Theo Walcott, Ronaldinho, Rafael Márquez, Bojan Krkic, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, Nani, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Eduardo da Silva and Wesley Sneijder. Additional cast include Nicklas Bendtner, Abou Diaby, Armand Traoré, Andrés Iniesta, and Maniche, with music by Eagles of Death Metal. (via Wikipedia)