Meet Matthew Richter

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Richter.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I like to describe my involvement in the Arts as being genetic, and therefore not my fault. My folks ran a community theatre for 30+ years and actually met during a show. They both had been involved in the Performing Arts their whole lives, and when I showed up, brought me to rehearsals in a crib. I was literally raised in a theatre. So when I graduated college in 2003, it made sense to move to LA for two reasons: there wasn’t really a burgeoning theatre scene in the Central Coast of California (I’m from San Luis Obispo officially, but was born in Florida, which I don’t like to admit but again, not my fault), and I wanted to stay close to family, to whom I was always very close.

A little secret that I like to share…I originally moved to Los Angeles to pursue acting. I majored in Theatre in college (Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo) with no particular emphasis. I’d always done tech and acted, so acting seemed the logical path to follow. Turns out it wasn’t, so I didn’t. I knew how to do basic tech, and started working in small theatres in LA. I took every opportunity to assist working designers and poached as many ideas as I could along the way. I never said no to an opportunity, and for almost the first 12 years I was here I made my living as a full-time freelance artist. It was simultaneously fantastic and awful, a descriptor I think most full-time freelancers would agree on. I didn’t feel comfortable really calling myself a designer until about 2008, honestly, and still have terrible bouts of imposter syndrome. In 2015 I began working for the LA LGBT Center full time as their TD and resident designer and still work entirely too much.

Looking back, I can clearly identify the individual productions that propelled me to where I am now. It’s a distinct line from event to event: the connections made, the right people seeing the right show. The right person impressed. I can spend this whole section listing the people I’ve worked with who were critical in my being where I am right now, each one deserving of their own VoyageLA story. The greater point is that I didn’t get here in a vacuum, and I’m equal parts lucky and thankful for those connections I’ve made in my own journey here.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
As smooth as anyone’s journey can be, I suppose. I don’t think my memoirs would be a best-seller, but there have been some unexpected hurdles along the way. Some highlights include discovering I was color blind in 2013 (it stemmed from an argument about a couch) which went a long way towards explaining why I was never as happy as my clients with my designs. I suffered a head injury in 2001 that caused significant memory loss and a personality change that still has ramifications today. My mom passed away in 2017, not unexpectedly but still shockingly. It was tech week (it’s always tech week though) for what would become one of the most life-changing shows I would work on, and the support I received was superhuman.

The biggest hurdles I ran into were always related to realizing what I couldn’t do. I learned early on that I am absolutely not a carpenter; I cannot carpent to save my life. I cannot mix live sound, no matter how close I lean in to the stage. The biggest hurdle of all, though, turned out to be what ultimately shaped my career: I’m really, really, not an actor. So I guess the takeaway/platitude here is that hurdles are only obstacles if you let them be. I decided to look at them instead as guideposts.

Maybe I will write that memoir. I haven’t yet decided that I’m not a writer 🙂

Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about you and your career so far?
I’m the Matt Richter part of Matt Richter Designs. I specialize in theatrical and event lighting and sound design for theatre, and, well, events. This has taken me all over the US and as far away as Amsterdam. I’m known specifically for lighting but am award-nominated for lighting and sound. I suppose my specialty would be collaboration; as cheesy as that sounds, I really excel at working with other artists to realize a cohesive vision for the production. This sounds abstract and possibly a little obtuse, but what it boils down to is I get to play with others to make cool art. I love problems, design-wise. Problems are just opportunities for creativity. I’m most proud of being confronted with issues that may otherwise make design impossible if not at least hampered, and turning that into something positive. Intimate theatre, especially, forces creativity. And with technology constantly evolving, it’s really easy to fall into rabbit holes of possibility.

The second part of Matt Richter Designs is the rental aspect of the business. I decided two things early on in my career: I didn’t want to let small budgets hamper my design work (what designer does?), and that I didn’t need to take vacations ever. Literally, all the money I earned that wasn’t going into rent or living went into gear. Over the past 17 years that’s grown into a pretty well equipped, small rental business. I have enough to keep multiple shows going at once, as well as enough left over to rent out to shows I’m not working on. That aspect is new within the last few years and is growing at a pretty impressive rate.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I see a lot of simultaneous good and bad. Technology is perpetually moving forward, and the possibilities are really very exciting. Things that were pipe dreams just a few years ago are now affordable in various forms. There’s also the push to modernize how the professional workforce is treated. AB5 is a prime example. I think the impetus to protect workers is a good path to follow, but it needs to be done with care. It kind of mirrors the technology issue in that advances may be made faster than we can realistically implement them. There’s a lot of hope out there right now; it’s an exciting time to be a part of it.

I also see, specific to Los Angeles, a lot more shows starting here and moving up to larger venues outside of this market. There was a seeming dip in “arts exports” from LA for a while at the beginning of the millennium. It’s nice to see more and more colleagues packing up for tours or growing with shows as they find more and more success.

And also apps. Everyone is doing everything on their phones nowadays. I don’t see that changing any time soon either.

Contact Info:

• Address: 13101 Welby Way
  North Hollywood, CA 91606
• Website: http://mattrichter.net
• Phone: 310-748-9121
• Email: stillrix@gmail.com

Image Credit:
Matt Kamimura, Jessica Sherman-Prince, Jon Lawrence Rivera, Wes Marsala

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