Richard is one of the pioneers of the CG and digital effects industry. In 1981, he co-founded Pacific Data Images (PDI) which started the convergence of art and high technology in the entertainment industry. Animation and digital effects are now ubiquitous in films, on TV and in games throughout the world. PDI became PDI/Dreamworks after PDI's award-winning production system was used to produce blockbusters feature length animations like Shrek and Madagascar.
As a Dreamworks studio executive, Richard worked to expand PDI/Dreamworks production capacity to satisfy a growing global demand for high quality, high production value entertainment. He traveled the world and found a flood of new creative talent. Realizing that the production systems of the past could not scale out, Cloudpic was formed to enable distant artists to work together. Along with his friends who built the pipelines for Shrek and for other blockbuster live action films like Matrix Reloaded, and megahit games like Spore, Richard is looking to reshape the industry again.