Richard Atkins, the singer and songwriter of the early 70’s California psychedelic folk duo ‘Richard Twice’, was on his way to stardom and a huge success with his first debut album when he mysteriously walked away from it all.

Interview with Director Matthew Salton

Congratulations! Why did you make your film?

My dad introduced me to Richard, who had written and recorded the album, Richard Twice, when he was only 19. I listened to the album and loved it and was blown away by the fact that he had recorded with the Wrecking Crew in the 1960s. Speaking to Richard, I found the path that he took from being a handicapped bed ridden teenager to recording in a major Hollywood studio extraordinary. And then he walked away from it all. I wanted to learn more.

Imagine I’m a member of the audience. Why should I watch this film?

It’s short, funny and ultimately moving. You’ll love the music and the animation is charming.

How have the script and film evolved over the course of their development and production?

Every summer for about 3 years, I conducted audio interviews with Richard in his home in the Pacific Northwest. Andy, the editor, and I combed over hours of audio of his amazing stories. We did this for about 3 years, starting and stopping, finally ending up with a 10 minute radio piece we both felt confident in. Richard had tons of incredible stories which were really hard to cut, but in the end we thought it was important for the films central theme to be about the music.

What type of feedback have you received so far?

Richard, himself, was very pleased and moved by the film so that felt good. It was a relief to have your main subject, someone whose music and stories you’ve been pouring over for years, feel enthusiastic about the film.

What are you looking to achieve by having your film more visible on www.wearemovingstories.com?

Hopefully people will check out the film when It’s publicly available and go listen to the album Richard Twice.

Who do you need to come on board (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists) to amplify this film’s message?

Film festival directors, producers.

What type of impact and/or reception would you like this film to have?

Our hope is that through this film and its incredible story more people will be introduced to the music of Richard, giving his album, Richard Twice, the attention it finally deserves.

What are the key creatives developing or working on now?

I’m working on a live action short film. This is also my first animation so I hope to continue to explore it more and start a new animated project this year.

Interview: January 2017

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We Are Moving Stories embraces new voices in drama, documentary, animation, TV, web series and music video. If you have just made a film - we'd love to hear from you. Or if you know a filmmaker - can you recommend us? More info: Carmela

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Richard Twice

Length: 10 minutes

Director: Matthew Salton

About the writer, director and producer:

Matthew Salton is a director/visual artist from the Pacific Northwest, currently residing in Brooklyn, NY. His first feature length film, Dwarves Kingdom, a documentary about a Chinese theme park that employs 100 little people to perform inside a fairy tale village, was released in 2015.

Key cast:

Looking for (producers, sales agents, buyers, distributors, film festival directors, journalists):

producers, film festival directors, journalists

Where can I see it in the next month?

It’s playing at Slamdance! And then some other places over the year I can’t divulge yet.