Meet Karl Richter | Director, Writer, Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karl Richter and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karl, how do you think about risk?
Risk is essential to success. Filmmaking is risk every single day.

Every time I do a project there’s an element of risk involved because unlike a product that you can hold in your hands, I have to communicate an idea or feeling visually. Prior to me creating it, it hasn’t existed.

Whether I’m working with a Client for a commercial, or creating a film, there’s a risk because I’m creating something from nothing and every piece of it is constructed by my choices. From the location, to the time of day, to the wardrobe, to the sounds in the environment, to the music, how close or wide we take in the action and who’s faces we’re looking at, it all comes down to choices I make. I have a strong team to provide great choices, but those are still ultimately my choices.

That means there’s a risk in trusting those choices are correct, to eventually deliver an exceptional motion picture that communicates a particular product in a particular tone / feeling or a particular story in a film.

It’s pretty wild to sit down with a blank page at the beginning and then get to set and there are 30+ people working to create the thing you thought of.

I don’t want to say the above and make it seem like it’s all me because it clearly isn’t. The correct team is crucial. I got really great advice from a filmmaker I really admire who said: “Surround yourself with the right people.”

The only reason I get to take those risks and that risk is successful is due to the people around me.

The reality is, unless you’re taking a risk, you’ll never progress in anything you do. You get stuck in the status quo, which becomes mediocrity. It’s boring. Diversity of idea, thought, color… literally everything, is the only way to an interesting and fulfilling world.

Filmmaking is a world of risk every single day. Without it, you can’t tell interesting stories.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m a filmmaker. I’m a Director and Editor primarily, with a strong bent toward cinematography.

Currently, I’m proudest of a few different projects. The latter half of 2021 was a tough year for me creatively and put me in a place where I was questioning everything I’d done up to that point and what I was capable of moving forward.

I think that happens to everyone who creates. It felt like I had a really good run of successes and then was suddenly face-to-face with the polar opposite so it was very obvious things weren’t ‘right’ in what I was doing.

I’ve been able to take time in the last month and a half to get some perspective. As I’ve worked through this first part of 2022, I’ve completed a Client project I’m really happy with while wrapping up a new short film and I’ve been focused on writing. The writing is my real point of pride (at the moment) because my first feature film script is in a place where it’s something worth talking about and I can begin to pitch to investors. I’ve written many short films but never a full-length so after many drafts and a lot of notes and staring at the page long enough, I’m finally able to see how a script can exist.

This all sounds a bit nebulous, but I’m not necessarily a natural at anything, which means for me, I have to really keep chipping away for a while before I ‘get it’, whatever ‘it’ is. I learn best by beating my head against a wall and gleaning as much of others experiences as I can, to see where that approach can work in my process.

This isn’t to say the script is perfect, but it is something worth shooting and investing in (shout out to anyone looking to fund independent film with a message, wrapped in a thriller!)

Getting to where I am today has been through a lot of incessant hard work. Bringing it back to my childhood, my brother could do anything he tried; piano, guitar, drums, drawing, painting, songwriting, singing, even dance. I would emulate him the best I could, but I was never as good at any of those things.

I do have an un-ending amount of perseverance that keeps pushing me forward, even when I’m really not feeling it. That’s the only reason I have any success. I want it and I’ll go after it, even when it looks impossible at first glance.

For what I (or any filmmaker) does, we have to be headstrong on everything, otherwise we wouldn’t make anything. There’s a million reasons to NOT do something and there are a million NOs out there. When you see something so vividly, there’s not other choice but to find the YES.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I live on the westside so first I’d likely just walk down my street to Ocean Ave., then down the California incline to the ocean. The vastness and power of the ocean is incredible. No matter how many times I’ve seen it, it’s still awe-inspiring. We take it for granted.

The air is fresher and you can feel the Earth’s pulse. It’s a reminder that we need to care about the planet we live on.

After that existential moment I’d likely go to Blue Plate Oysterette (for a lunch or dinner) or Calabra at the Proper Hotel. Both have incredible food, while the Proper has my personal favorite vibes in this part of town.

PLANT Food + Wine in Venice is the best meal I’ve ever had out, ever, and it’s all vegan. In a way you can’t even understand. I dare anyone to go there and say they didn’t eat some of the best food they’ve ever had.

There’s also Culver City and that entire strip on Culver Blvd. that now has a ton of outdoor seating. On the weekends it’s full of music and people and feels like the world’s alive again.

There’s a ton of stuff in east LA, but since I don’t live out there, I’d probably visit my friend and close collaborator Alain to show us around.

Places… well the Hollywood Bowl is my favorite venue for music. Getting box seats was an annual treat pre-pandemic and now that it’s back it was one of the first venues we could go to.

There’s LACMA and The Broad, and each of those areas has their respective ‘spots’ mid-city ( and downtown (Arts District) though I can’t think of one specifically anymore as I haven’t made ‘going out’ a thing in… well, in years.

And at the end of their trip, I’d take them to Duke’s in Malibu.

It’s just a regular restaurant/ bar, but if you find a seat at the bar and time it right, you can enjoy sunset RIGHT on the water’s edge with some great food and cocktails and will likely see dolphins or other ocean wildlife.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are two people that deserve the shout out.

My wife Melanie is an incredible partner and business woman in her own right. She’s my main sounding board to talk out ideas and most importantly, she’s the one who always has my back. When I feel like I’m failing she’s the one that reminds me of how far I’ve already come and how much I have to offer the world.

She’s possibly my biggest fan, after my brother Shawn, who’s my second shout out.

We’re 7 years apart, so when I was a kid he was my intro to culture. I read comics because of him, I watched movies he loved, he would make my halloween costumes (he would sew and use papier maché to create the Batman costume circa 1989 well before that was a thing you could easily get at the store) I got his hand-me-down legos and spent entire days of my childhood building space battles.

I wouldn’t be who I am today, doing what I do, without my brother.

Website: https://www.cynicalsmile.tv

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cynical_smiling/

Image Credits
All images by me, except first time titled “RHYTHM_PACE_SML_32”, which is by Paloma Criollo.