Meet Nicholas Richman | Director, Producer and Writer

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

Hi Nicholas, what role has risk played in your life or career?
“If you want it, go for it. Take a risk. Don’t always play it safe or you’ll die wondering.” If there’s one thing I’ve learned, life can be as boring or as exciting as you make it. What joy is there in life if you don’t take risks? I know it sounds corny but I truly believe that.

I couldn’t imagine where I’d be today if I played it safe, one thing’s for certain, I would not have accomplished anything in my career that I have thus far.
Screw playing it safe, we only get one shot at life, right? So what better way to learn to swim than by stripping off the floaties and diving in the deep end.

I was only in my first semester at Community College before I fell into a deep pit of depression. Trust me, I know it sounds dramatic, but anyone struggling with crippling anxiety I’m sure can relate. School was killing me. Literally.

So I did what so many other young, aspiring creatives like myself have done. I dropped out and never looked back. I didn’t care for a backup plan, no matter how many times I was told I needed one. Maybe I’m just stubborn, but one thing I knew for certain was that the idea of not having college as a backup plan in my life only drove me that much harder.

By backing out of my college education and not receiving a diploma, I risked getting jobs, risked my relationships with my family and with my friends… I risked having a safe and grounded future. But where’s the fun in that?

This was the first big risk I truly made that started me down this crazy path.
I do not condone lying, but I did hide my impromptu decision to drop out of college from my family for almost 6 months. They were still under the impression that I was going to classes and testing… HA!

Truth is, I was afraid to tell my parents, I knew it was going to be a wave of drama that my rebellious little brain didn’t have time for.

But my family also didn’t know one other thing I was doing behind the scenes, I was already a year in to taking acting classes, and barely scraping pennies to pay for it. I was taking acting classes to become a smarter director. I had also already bought and read every possible book I could find on Screenwriting, Directing, Acting and Editing. And some of them I read twice over. I self-taught myself everything I could. I had a girlfriend at the time who knew the basics of editing and had her give me a beginners course on editing 101, then later on used those basic skills to edit my first short film and every other personal project of mine since. Why even mention this you may wonder? Because if I was willing to take this huge risk of dropping out of school, then I had to be willing to put in EVERY ounce of work I could and use EVERY possible connection I had to my advantage. Why give yourself a plan B if you never give yourself the excuse of needing one in the first place? Told you I was stubborn.

But I was all in and there was no turning back, so I networked my ass off, and shook hands with every potential connection I could make. I snuck into production studios, I snuck onto working production sets and claimed I was either an Extra or a PA — sometimes it worked, sometimes I’d get kicked out. Again, I don’t condone this behavior, but when you’re young, hungry and have something to prove, then just go for it. Take the risk!

My next big risk I took in life came that same year, when I packed my bags and moved for the first time to Los Angeles, my Promised Land. The plan was to crash in my mentor’s guest room for the first month or so until I found roommates or an alternative living situation. Welp, those plans drastically changed when a Producer I had met at the time saw some of the comedic content I created. He pushed me to keep working with my friend (who was also my writing partner at the time) I had made this content with and keep creating what we started. But the only way I could do that is if I moved my entire life back down to South Florida, not only where I just moved from, but where my partner was still living. The concept of the show we were creating was a “Florida based” comedic series. So I decided to go with my gut and move to the last place I ever wanted to be… back home. The place I just fled. But I knew it was a risk worth taking. The two of us spent the next year and change creating a proper pitch deck, and filmed an entire mini-series for it. We went the extra mile to impress anybody who’d be willing to listen to our pitch for even a minute. Within months, just after turning 21, I was back in Los Angeles, this time though, in my first ever pitch meeting and with none other than the comedy mecca of production, Comedy Central. A surreal experience to say the least.

I didn’t need college or film school to teach me how to get to that point. Sitting in a meeting with a content development executive from Comedy Central at that age was a bigger education than any film school could’ve ever taught me.

From then on, I’ve continued to take risks along the way that will forever shape my future. I told myself when I was 22 that I will never work in any other professional environment ever again if it weren’t production related. That day, I quit my job, my only financial safety net of waiting tables in a restaurant. I won’t name drop which restaurant, but let’s just say they serve cheap steaks, fried onion appetizer platters, and pretend to be Australian. Yeah… that one.

At the time, I was already on year 5 of being a waiter and I knew that if I kept this job any longer than it was almost like having a backup plan, which would then, not only become a step backwards, but would be a distraction from my ultimate goal. Last I checked, I didn’t drop out of school to wait tables at a low-end steakhouse for the rest of my life.

If I’m going to get paid, then I need to work hard enough to get paid doing what I love to do.

I immediately whipped together a… well let’s just call it a semi-decent “director’s reel”. I slapped together any bit of my own content I had created at that time and used it to sell the sh*t out of myself to anyone who cared to listen.
In less than 3 months, I was hired as a Writer and Producer for my first televised series.

I had quit that last little excuse of a safety net I gave myself and from that moment on, I’ve made a living by only my production career. Which has sort of, in a sense, kind of been a dream come true.

My advice to anyone with a dream… do not be afraid to steer yourself down a path that may not be the most visible to those closest to you, because sometimes, things in life are the most satisfying when you throw the map out the f*cking window and just drive.

My adult life has been built off taking risks, and I have yet to regret not giving myself a backup plan once. Or… maybe I really am just that stubborn.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

Over the past few years, I have won multiple awards from shows and short films I’ve written/directed or produced. I just wrapped my latest short film, Sunflower, back in January, one of the biggest creative challenges I’ve ever faced from start to finish and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.  I’ve never been more proud of a passion project of mine, we’re now in the final stages of Post-Production and planning a big festival push for the 2022-2023 circuit, fingers crossed!

I am currently the Showrunner and Senior Producer for a reality series called Military Makeover airing on the Lifetime Network. Military Makeover is all about offering hope and a helping hand on the home front to the members of our military and their loved ones. It’s a feel good show and I’m excited to be apart of it.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
1. Head towards Santa Monica, rent bikes and bike all along the coastal access point, then, of course, stay on the sand around the pier as the sun sets down over the water giving anybody who isn’t from the west coast a site to never forget.

2. It would have to be a hike, maybe Temescal Valley in Malibu or to check out the breathtaking views over at Point Dume.

3. Probably something I truly geek out on, a studio tour, because how could you not, you’re in the production capital of the world, you have to do a studio tour, hit the Warner Bros tour.

4. Not to be a super basic kind of guy, but it would be hitting one of the speakeasy’s or rooftops in the West Hollywood area.

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?
I credit any success I’ve seen or will see to every single teacher I’ve ever had during my school years that told me I would amount to nothing in life, and trust me there were many! MANY! But in all seriousness, it’s hard to just pinpoint one person to shoutout. I believe everyone enters and/or exits your life for a reason, and anyone that’s ever been close to me knows how important they are to me. Throughout my life, my circle of friends, family, mentors and… exes (you know who you are) that have joined me on this ride all deserve a shoutout. So I’d say anyone and everyone that’s ever been close to me deserves recognition because they’ve not only had to deal with my stubborn director mentality at times, but have all helped me evolve as a person through the years.

Instagram: @nnickrichmann

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-richman-2450b6199/