"Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon" is Peter Richardson's first feature-length documentary. Richardson's family moved to Philomath when he was six, and he graduated from Philomath High School in 1998. He was a recipient of the Clemens Scholarship, which is the subject of his documentary. While a film student at the University of Notre Dame, Richardson produced the documentary short, "Racist," a first-person portrait of notorious white supremacist Matthew Hale. Hale, Pontificus Maximus of the World Church of the Creator, was subsequently arrested and convicted of conspiring to assassinate a Federal Circuit Court Judge.

After graduating with a degree in film production and theory from the University of Notre Dame in 2002, Richardson took a position with Block-Korenbrot Public Relations in Los Angeles, where he worked as part of the team handling the marketing efforts on such acclaimed documentaries as "The Fog of War," "Winged Migration," and "BlindSpot: Hitler's Secretary." Knowing that filmmaking, not publicizing, was his ultimate passion, Richardson left Los Angeles for his hometown of Philomath, Oregon, to produce "Clear Cut." Since coming to Oregon in 2003, Richardson has also produced commercials and documentaries for Microsoft, Bluetooth Wireless Technology, and Hewlett Packard. He currently resides in Corvallis, OR.