Michael Richter: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Content Creator
An Interview With Susan Johnston
Read screenplays instead of screenwriting books. It’s the best way to develop good instincts as a writer. Theme is character. Character is story. The best films resonate with their audiences on an emotional level. No matter what the genre. Filmmaking is a team sport. But you really do have to do everything yourself. Ignore everything anyone tells you — including me — because there are no rules to making a great film. If there were, why would you want to do it?
As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Michael Richter.
Michael Richter is currently writing, directing, and producing elevated genre projects for film and television, including Only Apparently Real, The Talented Ribkins, Triceratops Summer, Landfill Harmonic, and Free Radicals. Michael previously wrote and produced Torn (starring Emmy-nominee John Heard, Faran Tahir, Mahnoor Baloch, and Dendrie Taylor) which received a theatrical release after it won the award for Best Feature Film, and was subsequently acquired by Amazon. He has also served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, and co-founded and served as the Chief Creative Officer of Aftershock Comics, which won the New Publisher of the Year Diamond Gem Award in its inaugural year.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
I grew up in a lower middle class family in a diverse neighborhood in Florida. My group of friends ranged from orthodox Jewish kids like me to neighbors from Kenya and Cuba. My father, a Rabbi, suddenly died when I was a teenager while I was away at school in Manhattan. Everyone used to tell me my father was a tzaddik — that’s Jewish for a saint, only with a better sense of humor — and that I would have a hard act to follow. Turns out they were right.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
I started off as a theater actor in college, and was always digging deep into character and story for the roles I portrayed. But I didn’t really get the writing bug until law school. I wrote and performed in an annual sketch comedy show called “The Law Revue,” and after my first performance the dean pulled me aside and told me I chose the wrong career. That year, I wrote my first screenplay — a comedic heist (think Reservoir Dogs meets Take the Money and Run) — and directed my first play. It of course took me another fifteen years to actually get my first movie made, but that’s another story.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your content creator career?
The first film I wrote and produced was a low budget independent film called Torn. Torn was about two mothers who lose their sons in an explosion in a shopping mall. We filmed a week at a cemetery in Half Moon Bay, California. One day a woman showed up with a young girl. They were visiting someone’s grave. They were blocking a shot our director wanted to take, and one of our assistants actually asked them to move out of the way. I was so mortified that I ran over to them to apologize. After speaking with them I discovered that the young girl was her granddaughter. They were visiting the girl’s father, who had been killed in a drive-by shooting. At this point I wasn’t sure if life was literally imitating art or the universe was trying to tell me something. But we invited them to stay on the set and made them honorary producers for the day. The young girl told me it was the happiest moment she had experienced since her father died.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Once we finished shooting Torn, we somehow convinced Bruce Cannon to edit the film. Bruce was the editor on all of Jon Singleton’s movies, and he probably gave me the biggest compliment of my life when he told me that he had not been moved by a screenplay as much as mine did since Boyz n the Hood. I’ve also been really lucky to work with some of my favorite producers of all time, including Irwin Winkler (Rocky, Goodfellas, Raging Bull) and Jon Shestack (Air Force One, Dan in Real Life, The Last Seduction). Jon is producing Only Apparently Real and helped me attach Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory, Florence Foster Jenkins, We’ll Never Have Paris) to play Philip K. Dick in the film.
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I’m probably most grateful for all of the help I’ve received from Jon Shestack, Ruth Vitale, and Meyer Shwarzstein. Ruth and Meyer distributed my first film and have been great friends and mentors. In addition to being a great producing partner, Jon is one of the few people who believes in my writing, and has helped me succeed as a writer more than anyone else.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
When I was transitioning from being Chief Privacy Officer at Facebook to devoting myself to writing and producing full time, I was nervous no one would take me seriously on a creative level. I had seen a couple of other people make the transition from Silicon Valley to Hollywood, and they all shared the same observation: everyone just assumed they knew nothing about film, and only looked to them as someone who can help them finance their projects. The day I left Facebook, one of my closest friends gave me a gift. A framed business card that had my name on it, with the words Chief Privacy Officer crossed off and the word Screenwriter underneath. I’ve never been worried about what anyone else thinks since.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
In addition to Only Apparently Real, I am directing Triceratops Summer, a time travel romantic comedy which I wrote based on a short story by Michael Swanwick, and I am serving as an executive producer on the Disney Plus series The Talented Ribkins. I am also producing Free Radicals (starring Isabelle Huppert) and Landfill Harmonic (written by Jose Rivera).
Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?
Being able to focus on projects that I am passionate about and working with people who I like and respect.
What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
Read screenplays instead of screenwriting books. It’s the best way to develop good instincts as a writer. Theme is character. Character is story. The best films resonate with their audiences on an emotional level. No matter what the genre. Filmmaking is a team sport. But you really do have to do everything yourself. Ignore everything anyone tells you — including me — because there are no rules to making a great film. If there were, why would you want to do it?
When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?
I imagine every filmmaker would want to say their own personal artistic vision. But films do need to get financed. Viewers need to see your film if you want the next one financed. And no one wants bad reviews. The problem is, no one knows how critics and audiences will respond until the film is out there, So all you can do is make something you are truly passionate about, listen to what everyone has to say (because even financiers want what is best for the project), and hope you make the right decisions.
You are a person of great influence. If you could spread an idea that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can prompt. :-)
Use your art to shine a light on the truth.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? They might see this. :-)
Stephen Curry. He’s revolutionized the game of basketball, which I love almost as much as film. And he doesn’t live far from me so it wouldn’t waste too much of his time to meet me. I want to understand how he is able to stay humble. Except when he does that night thing….
How can our readers further follow you online?
I don’t post much online, but I do keep my website — michaelrichter.com — up to date.
If you would like us to tag you on social media when we share it, please list your profiles:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljuddrichter/ https://www.facebook.com/richter
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
About The Interviewer: Susan Johnston is a Media Futurist, Columnist as well as Founder and Director at New Media Film Festival®. The New Media Film Festival® — honoring stories worth telling since 2009, is an Award-winning, inclusive, and boundary-pushing catalyst for storytelling and technology. Susan was knighted in Rome in 2017 for her work in Arts & Humanity.
