AT the age of seven, when his mother told him the family was moving to  New York from Guyana, Mason Richards says he was quite confused. Back then, he said, he’d felt his country of birth was “an amazing and magical place.” Now, several years later, Richards is one of the newest film directors on the scene, having recently returned from Cannes, France where his first feature short film, ‘The Seawall’ was accepted in what is regarded as “The granddaddy of all festivals.”
In an interview with the Sunday Chronicle, Richards traced his humble beginnings in Brooklyn, New York. “That’s where I started to dream about making films, and about being in the arts,” he said. “I joined the Arts Education Theatre Company. I didn’t like school, and wanted to be more involved in something that was more creative.”
In order to achieve his goal, he quit school. “I don’t think my mother knew I’d dropped out of high school,” the quiet and unassuming Richards admitted. “But that’s when I found out about the Posse Foundation Scholarship,” he said. “I realized that I wanted to go to college, and had to find a way to make that work. I knew that my life was going to change. I wanted to learn; I wanted the experience, and realized then that I could actually change the world.”
Richards’ passion for film began as a teen growing up in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn.   He saw the arts as an escape from his sometimes violent and tremulous neighbourhood.
At 15, he was the youngest member of The CityKids Repertory, a professional theatre company focused on arts education.
At CityKids, he workshopped, staged and performed theatrical pieces around diversity, education, race, gender, sexuality and other issues affecting young people.  He was able to harness his creative voice through performance, theatrical workshops, and writing.
Richards obtained his BA in English and BSc in Human & Organizational Development from Vanderbilt University. During his freshman year at Vanderbilt, he directed his first full-length theatre production, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf.  The production was the first African-American theatre production in the university’s history, and was well received by the university and local press.
In directing this play, Mason discovered the challenge of working with actors, navigating through complex text and pulling it all together.
Posse president and founder, Debra Bial recalled that when the play opened, there was standing room only. “It was a huge moment, not just for Posse and Richards, but for Vanderbilt as well.”
After working for CBS News in New York and in marketing at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles, Richards obtained his Master of Fine Arts in Film Directing from the California Institute of the Arts. While studying at Cal Arts, he wrote and directed several narrative short films, including his thesis, The Seawall, which had its world premiere at the 2011 Festival de Cannes in the Short Film Corner.  In order to make The Seawall, Richards returned to his homeland, Guyana, in South America to tell his story from a personal perspective, and work with non-actors in the community.
The Seawall is a narrative short film shot entirely on location in Georgetown, Guyana, and centres around Marjorie, a Guyanese woman, as she prepares for her 10-year-old grandson’s move to America to be with his mother. Struggling with loneliness and abandonment, audiences watch as Marjorie sacrifices her happiness for her grandson’s future.
The cast and crew consisted of local Guyanese non-actors, non-professionals and students working alongside Mason and his crew from Los Angeles.  The film offers a rare glimpse into the day-to-day lives of a Guyanese family, and stunningly captures how emigration affects those left behind.
Although heartbreaking, The Seawall  is a fundamental story about hope and optimism. In addition to being Mason’s graduate thesis project at the renowned Film Directing programme at CalArts, the film allowed Richards to return to his home country, Guyana, to share what he has learned about filmmaking and tell a story “in the community – with the community… Guyana is a beautiful country with good people.  I wanted to make a tonal film that captures the essence of a few people’s experience in the country I love so much.”
The Seawall was made possible by fundraising and donations totaling $20,000(US) through a non-profit fiscal sponsor affiliate with Friends & Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana (FROG). FROG, based in Washington, D.C., was created in 2007 by a group of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers who wanted to create a community of people interested in Guyana.
Richards, who describes The Seawall as his heart,  hopes to turn it into a feature film.  He is currently in pre-production for his next short film to be shot on location in Brooklyn, New York and is also in development for his first feature-length film based on a Simon & Schuster published novel about a kid coming of age in the inner city.  Mason splits his time between Los Angeles and New York City.