Introducing Richard Matson, Vice President of Theatrical Distribution
I hail from the glorious metropolis of Little Rock, AR in the verdant foothills of the mighty Ouachita Mountains (top peak 2753 ft!). From there, I bounced around for college stints at Hampshire, The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, then Columbia College. I made my way to NYC to start my career directing epic, Fellini-esque movies. Filmmaker friends told me that if I wanted to direct I should avoid the industry, get a bartending job and dedicate all of my free time to writing… so I immediately took a job running a production/distribution company.
Luckily for me, the two ad agency guys who started the company knew even less about the film business than I did. We had a fantastic time and I learned so much from them about taking risks in an established industry, following your customer/audience, and recognizing the needs and values of all parties along the way. In 4 short years we produced and distributed Adrien Brody’s first 2 starring roles and a political doc with Philip Seymour Hoffman.
In 2002, I decided to enter the burgeoning online world and founded a company, Transmission Films, which became the third largest online film distributor in the world. Of course, in 2002, it took 12 hours to download a feature film. Being third largest of nothing isn’t much fun! After 2 years, I sold the company and gratefully reentered the theatrical world with Matson Films. For the past 13 years, I have had the privilege to distribute over 100 films of all shapes and sizes working with a wide variety of clients. Since 2014, The Orchard has been one of those clients – and it has been a true pleasure to work with the entire film team on a fantastic slate of movies.
I’ve been a fan of the company since somewhere around 2004. Back then, my best friend was running an all-Arkansan record label. The Orchard secured a $60,000 TV pilot paycheck for one of his no-name artists on a song about a snake and a canoe. Now that’s amazing! After 20 years, I’m still passionate about independent film, am constantly excited by the challenges and opportunities of the ever-changing landscape, and inspired by a community of professionals that believe our medium has a unique ability to change the way people think about the world.
The Orchard has assembled an exceptional team with a strong vision for the future. I’m very excited to contribute whatever I can.
