Gregory Hatanaka
Directing
Biography
Gregory Hatanaka is an American filmmaker, producer, and distributor whose career bridges international film distribution and independent feature production. He is the founder of Cinema Epoch and Cineridge Entertainment, companies through which he has overseen the release and circulation of a wide range of independent and international films across theatrical and digital platforms. Hatanaka began his career in film distribution in the 1990s, working with cult and international cinema and helping introduce global genre and arthouse titles to U.S. audiences. His early work focused particularly on Asian and specialty films, reflecting a long-standing passion for drive-in cinema, action films, and unconventional storytelling. This foundation in international distribution informed his later approach as a filmmaker, blending genre tradition with stylistic experimentation. Transitioning into directing and producing his own features, Hatanaka developed a body of work that moves between action, thriller, drama, and surreal independent cinema. His films often explore themes of identity, obsession, moral ambiguity, and emotional isolation. Visually, his work combines classical influences with contemporary digital production techniques, frequently embracing tonal shifts, heightened atmosphere, and character-driven intensity. Known for maintaining close creative involvement in multiple stages of production, Hatanaka often works across development, editing, and post-production to preserve continuity of vision. His dual experience in both distribution and filmmaking provides him with a practical understanding of how independent films evolve from concept to audience. Prolific and adaptable, Hatanaka continues to develop new projects while managing an expanding catalog of independent cinema. His career reflects a sustained commitment to genre filmmaking, global film culture, and the evolving landscape of digital distribution.
Known For
With the sheriff set to padlock their clinic at dawn, and a wealthy buyer on the prowl, three Bikini Nurses mount one last move: to impress their wealthiest patron with a show so that he'll buy the clinic and save the day.
Bikini Nurses
A reclusive man hires a woman for a one-hour companion visit, treating intimacy as a controlled experiment. As the hour unfolds, emotional barriers erode, forcing him to confront love, time, and loss
One Hour Girlfriend
A weathered CIA agent is thrown into a web of deception when he uncovers a rogue government plot to unleash a deadly drug on humanity.
Kill Plan
Three female astronauts reunite after a secret Jupiter mission when a mysterious Sasquatch presence resurfaces. As deaths mount, they confront buried memories and discover the creature is tied to emotion, not violence
Beyond Sasquatch
A hired assassin with a broken past is on the run and hiding out with a woman he's taken captive. They hope to survive the weekend without losing their lives in the process.
Bad Timing
After witnessing a sudden act of violence, Martin and Kathleen are drawn into a hidden conflict. Strangers close in and intentions blur as they navigate a night where every encounter may be a warning or a trap.
Sudden Light
25 years later after the events of Samurai Cop (1991), Detective Frank Washington is forced to team up with his long estranged partner Joe Marshall to solve a series of assassinations being committed by a secret group of female vigilante killers.
Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance
A mysterious killer roams a small town pulling it's victims into the shadows. As the fatalities rise, dark secrets are revealed.
Shadow Death
Believing their deceased son isn't at peace, Molly and Tom ask a medium to make contact. But after they invite a vengeful demon to cross over, the couple must enlist the help of a disgraced priest to attempt a dangerous exorcism.
Holy Terror
When the French mob muscles in on their Italian uncle's pizzeria, Rilley has to fight them off and save the neighborhood, using their nine months of experience in the martial arts.
Blue Belt
A bikini pool party turns violent when a rampaging hunter feels the curse of flesh and vengeance awaken within him
Sorority House Guillotine
Enter the Samurai is a documentary film which follows the making of the feature film "Samurai Cop 2: Deadly Vengeance". It follows the film crew and artists as they deal with clashes of generations, taste and approach to sanity while attempting to complete production of the film.
Enter the Samurai: The Making of Samurai Cop 2
At a crossroads, a young drug dealer risks losing everything when he decides to either embrace a life of crime or get out before it’s too late.
Crack
Every snapshot unveils the essence of life's fleeting moments, a time capsule woven with laughter and love but this camera will be your last shared memory before death.
Say Cheese
Cheuk looks for a job at a bar run by a girl named Beauty. In the middle of his interview, he foils what he believes is a crime being committed. In return, he gets the job. Meanwhile, desperate for money to return home to Hong Kong, a gangster named Hai and his girlfriend, Su, also begin working for Beauty. Both Cheuk and Hai become attracted to Beauty, which makes Su very jealous. Beauty finds and cares for a baby that was abandoned at their bar and conceals a dark secret.
Bar Paradise
Two assassins awaken trapped in a sealed apartment with one hour left and orders to kill each other. As memory and paranoia return, an ancient legend stirs-summoned by trauma-forcing them to face control, loyalty, and what lives within.
Sasquatch Within
Alisa has a shoplifting problem. Out of options, she is sent to the office of unorthodox educator and coach, John Mahler. With his confrontational approach, Mahler tries to get to the heart of the matter, but is met with resistance. Alisa confesses to him that she doesn't want to attend these sessions, and that she wants to be left alone. Sensing that she has a good heart, John doesn't give up. Instead, he tries a variety of methods, determined to reform this bad girl from her wicked ways. Bad Girl Office is a feature that explores how two very different people can come together, how help and change is possible in a human being, and how a person can heal from the pain in their past.
Bad Girl Office
A mobster's daughter takes refuge in an old movie theater and finds herself in the middle of a magical story about fairies, divorce, and hope
The Anna Game
When a woman begins seeing a mysterious man who challenges her to a series of tests, she enters the dangerous and dark side of online dating.
Body of Night
Katarina is a music teacher obsessed with an unfinished symphony. She worries about her brother, Ondrej an introverted inventor whose financiers are reputedly shady and dangerous. Then one day, her ex-husband Pietro shows up in her house and locks her in a cage.