Richard Copans, born November 25, 1947, is a French film producer, cinematographer, and director.

After studying cinematography at IDHEC from 1966 to 1968, he worked as an assistant cameraman for Andréas Winding, Philippe Rousselot, Pierre Lhomme, and Yann Le Masson from 1969 to 1976. From 1973 to 1978, he was a cameraman and director with the far-left militant film collective Cinélutte, notably on Bonne chance la France!