[1][2] After graduating from Brooklyn Technical High School, young Robert headed west to California’s Occidental College[3] for a Telluride Association experimental program, then to Reed College,[4][5] and the Iowa Writers' Workshop.
[7] He is the last member of the Edward R. Murrow-Fred Friendly CBS Reports[8] unit still actively producing documentaries.
After he left CBS in 1968 to become an independent filmmaker, his company, Richter Productions, Inc. made more than 50 documentaries telecast in prime time on HBO, PBS, CBS, NBC, ABC, TBS, Discovery, BBC and major overseas television outlets.
[9] Few documentary filmmakers have received as many honors: the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences nominated two Richter films for best documentary short;[1][2] he received a 2008 National Emmy for "exceptional merit in nonfiction filmmaking;" the duPont Columbia Broadcast Journalism award[10] (TV's Pulitzer Prize); the Distinguished Science Reporting Award from AAAS (American Academy for Advancement of Science); Peabody Awards; many US and international film festival awards; critical acclaim in The New York Times and other major papers.
Richter's many documentaries on environmental subjects earned him a Global 500 Award[11] from the United Nations Environment Programme—the only independent producer in the world to receive this honor.