Matty Rich, born Matthew Statisfield Richardson (November 6, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York City), is a film director and screenwriter who broke into the film world with the 1991 film Straight Out of Brooklyn which was financed by credit cards and donations. Rich also plays a major character in the film. The low-budget independent film grossed $2.7 million dollars at the box office and only cost $450,000 to make. Rich was only 19 years old at the time. The film was critically acclaimed and Rich won many awards including an Independent Spirit Award. The success of the film introduced Rich as another major young African-American talent during a time when new filmmakers like Spike Lee, John Singleton, Mario Van Peebles and the Hughes Brothers were also being hailed for their films about African-American culture.
In interviews, Rich had proudly stated that even though he dropped out of New York University's (NYU) famed Tisch School of the Arts after one month (he accused the faculty of racism), he still made a successful film. This drew criticism from Spike Lee, a Tisch graduate, who accused Rich of being "ignorant".[1] Rich's second film, 1994's The Inkwell, received mixed reviews but was a commercial failure. He has not made another film since.
In 2005, Rich re-emerged as the director and screenwriter of the video game, 187 Ride or Die[2] which was not a success.
Today, he serves as CEO of Matty Rich Games, a Los Angeles-based gaming company. Matty Rich Games specializes in family-orientated and Christian-themed video games geared toward the African-American community.[3]
On January 19, 2008 Rich married publicist Leah "Reid" Johnson.[4] They presently live in Los Angeles.