Richard Beattie is a Canadian screenwriter. He is most noted for the 1989 film Cold Comfort, for which he and Elliot L. Sims won the Genie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 11th Genie Awards in 1990. Born and raised in British Columbia, Beattie studied political science at the University of British Columbia before applying to, but then dropping out of law school in 1985. His first screenplay, Blindside, was directed by Paul Lynch and released in 1987.