| Robert Richter | |
| Birth Date: | 23 October 1929 |
| Birth Place: | New York, NY, USA |
| Education: | Occidental College Reed College Iowa Writers' Workshop Columbia University |
| Occupation: | Documentary filmmaker, producer, screenwriter |
| Yearsactive: | 1958-present |
| Nationality: | American |
Robert Richter (born October 23, 1929) is an American documentary filmmaker. He has been nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Short.[1] [2]
After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, young Robert headed west to California’s Occidental College[3] for a Telluride Association experimental program, then to Reed College,[4] [5] and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
After the Iowa Writers Workshop, Richter joined Oregon Public Broadcasting initially as a producer-reporter, then Director of Public Affairs programs.[6] In addition he reported from the Pacific Northwest for The New York Times. A CBS News Fellowship brought him back to New York where he earned an M.A. in Public Law and Government at Columbia University in 1964.[7] He is the last member of the Edward R. Murrow-Fred Friendly CBS Reports unit still actively producing documentaries.
After he left CBS in 1968 to become an independent filmmaker, his company, Richter Productions, Inc. made more than 50 documentaries telecast in prime time on HBO, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS, Discovery, BBC and major overseas television outlets.[8]
Few documentary filmmakers have received as many honors: the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences nominated two Richter films for best documentary short; he received a 2008 National Emmy for "exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking;" the duPont Columbia Broadcast Journalism award[9] (TV's Pulitzer Prize); the Distinguished Science Reporting Award from AAAS (American Academy for Advancement of Science); Peabody Awards; many US and international film festival awards; critical acclaim in The New York Times and other major papers. Richter's many documentaries on environmental subjects earned him a Global 500 Award[10] from the United Nations Environment Programme—the only independent producer in the world to receive this honor.