Makers of The Metaverse: Mason Richman Of Hoops Association On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries
An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis
Determination, creativity, positivity, supportive friends and family, and passion. The true key is keeping a healthy mind. These industries and building them require so much mental stamina it can be frustrating at times. You have to push through the hard times and the obstacles with determination. You have to envision what you are building before it exists and push your creativity over the top. You have to stay positive because not everything works the first time you try it. When times get tough if you are alone you’ll be lost in your thoughts and you have to have supportive people around you. Through it all, you have to truly want to build something that the world has never seen before. Stay passionate about something so every day you can wake up and tell yourself that you’ll make a difference in someone’s life when you finish your journey.
The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mason Richman.
Mason Richman is an art, video game, and event lifestyle producer. In the art world, he has been known as Maso Rich, the producer of the viral cartoons Leraffe James (an Instagram parody page about Lebron James shared over 50 million times), as well as the 3D art behind the Golden State Warrior’s Legacy Collection NFTs. He has run the event and travel lifestyle company Entertainment Concierge as the CEO for the past 5 years on top of producing a graphic novel and several other animated series.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?
I grew up in Southern Florida in a family of 6 kids. My father was a doctor and my mother was a professional artist. I’ve always been creative and my family has always supported me.
Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
One book that has always helped me ever since I came across it was Robert Cialdini’s “6 principles of influence”. They seem like obvious things, but once you actively start recognizing these principles being used in everyday life, things just start to seem more clear. Understanding the inner workings of what helps people make decisions and deal with one another is a valuable skill and has resonated with me.
In terms of storytelling and metaverse building the movie that resonated with me and got me into writing and creating is Alan Ball’s “American Beauty”. The writing is so meticulous and perfectly laid out. How to take a regular person’s life and make it captivating and triumphant yet tragic really led me to want to learn the craft of writing, which eventually led me to produce animation and much more.
Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry? We’d love to hear it.
I’ve always been a big fan of animation. One of my favorite shows was Futurama. The pure imagination of that show and wackiness was always so fun and they still found a way to ground the characters with human emotion through it all. I would say that this show is fundamental in the outside-the-box thinking I have for creating metaverse ideas.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this fascinating career?
When I created the cartoon Leraffe James. I was just doing it for fun, started posting the cartoons on because it was just an outlet from my everyday work. I didn’t know why I was doing it… I just had the urge to do art and release it. Eventually, it was shared 50 million times and it landed me a creative executive position at a social media animation company. It’s there where I met some amazingly talented people and raised my skill level as a producer.
Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The mistakes I’ve made aren’t funny… haha
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
I am nothing without the dream instilled in me from my mother’s art. I am nothing without my brother and business partner Devin. I am nothing without my talented team around me. I am just the engine of the machine. For me, I have a core memory of when I was really young of my mom teaching me how to draw a cartoon puppy. Even as a child, I recognized that she made it look too easy. Adults can not draw perfect puppies in 30 seconds, but my mom could. It amazed and fascinated me that these images were held inside her mind and she could get it on paper. I’ve never been able to recreate her perfection on paper but I have been able to capture the visions in my mind and lead creative projects to the finish lines.
Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?
I am working on a few metaverse projects. 2 of them in the basketball world. The one that stands to help the most people is the Hoops Association. We have a lot of big goals for that project, but one of the stretch goals we want to do down the line is sponsor youth basketball camps and team-building exercises, as well as build some metaverse themed courts in underprivileged areas. You can learn more about the projects on our studio website www.bubbadutch.com.
Ok super. Thank you for all that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?
Wow, this question is massive. The future of education and experience is about to totally change. Imagine you could learn about history by putting on VR and traveling back in time to a historically correct metaverse. Imagine if you could train doctors, engineers, pilots, and others with AR and VR technology. The amount of savings companies will have and the ability to transfer knowledge is honestly what excites me most about VR/AR. Even the way people connect and interact on the internet is about to change with the 3D metaverse that is blowing up.
What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR, and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?
The concerns I have for this aren’t too different from the everyday concerns of normal reality. Maybe people will become too addicted to their technology, but that’s a problem people are already dealing with. Enhancing the experience of life is fundamental regardless. There are people in wheelchairs or people who don’t have opportunities to travel who can now put on headsets or just browse a metaverse and experience things they never could before. My concerns for this technology can only be addressed by the individuals utilizing it.
I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR, and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?
Mentioned above training people in these new industries is going to change everything. Companies will save on assets by reusing digital training methods. People will be able to train and learn at home. Education as we know it will change. Imagine a school field trip to Egypt to see the pyramids in VR with your classmates. Computer class just got way cooler.
Are there other ways that VR, AR, and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?
Some people are going to dislike these new technologies and say that people should stay in the real world and get outside or whatever. The truth is not everyone’s the same and some people’s lives will be enhanced by these new opportunities. Plenty of people have created digital identities that they identify with more than the one they were born into. The endless possibilities to provide people mental comfort in an ever-changing world is going to improve the happiness of a lot of people. I specifically think a lot of confused, lonely, and underprivileged people will find new hope and identity in the metaverse industries.
What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?
The myths… the biggest one is identity theft and overall anonymity. The fear that people will be impersonated is valid, but with the integration of blockchain technology and verifiable assets it will be easy to dispel a lot of those concerns. People can easily track and verify what’s true and not true with a little digging.
What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?”
Determination, creativity, positivity, supportive friends and family, and passion. The true key is keeping a healthy mind. These industries and building them require so much mental stamina it can be frustrating at times. You have to push through the hard times and the obstacles with determination. You have to envision what you are building before it exists and push your creativity over the top. You have to stay positive because not everything works the first time you try it. When times get tough if you are alone you’ll be lost in your thoughts and you have to have supportive people around you. Through it all, you have to truly want to build something that the world has never seen before. Stay passionate about something so every day you can wake up and tell yourself that you’ll make a difference in someone’s life when you finish your journey.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I’m a firm believer in betting on the next generation. It’s very difficult to change the mind of someone who is older. I think with how fast technology has changed younger people have the opportunity now more than ever to make a difference using how connected humans are today for powerful changes. The movement I would like to inspire would be educationally focused to make sure as many children have an opportunity to be something their parents never even knew would exist.
We are very blessed that very prominent leaders read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them 🙂
Honestly, I just want to make my parents proud. I’m not overly concerned with outside noise, but if I had to pick someone it’ll be the person who helped me get this far in my creative career without even knowing it. Lebron James, I did a parody of his identity and it launched me forward more than I ever expected. I would love to have the opportunity to thank him in person one day.
Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!
Makers of The Metaverse: Mason Richman Of Hoops Association On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
