We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nicolas Neidhardt a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nicolas, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
I grew up in a small town in Germany. My mother played piano and encouraged me to take classical piano lessons when I was 6. Growing up, I lost interest in playing classical music and started to play by ear. I really enjoyed trying to reproduce my favorite tv show or film themes. As a teenager I realized that playing in a band would set me apart from most others boys. Playing i local bands also gave me a sense of accomplishment, a feeling of success and boosted my self esteem. In High School, all of my classmates had set up their career path: they would become lawyers, doctors, engineers, teachers….none of these seemed interesting to me. I decided to become a musician and – thanks to my bilingual background – to become a teacher would be my backup plan. I already knew that I could not stay in this small bavarian town and that I would need to dive into the music scene of a much bigger city: London, New York, Los Angeles…this was the home of the people I admired and I would do everything I could to be part of the Music Industry so one day I would live in one of these fascinating places. The first big step was moving to Paris when I turned 20. My encounter with the local music scene was a big shock for me as I realized that these musicians were extremely good…and I wasn’t. I decided to go back to school and studied jazz piano & arrangement, classical piano, music theory and ear training. After about 7 years I was ready for the big adventure!
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m originally a composer but discovered my passion for many other aspects of the entertainment industry. After about 30 years of working as a freelance composer in a variety of media, I founded my first US music production and publishing company, Go West Music, in 2014. In 2021 – during Covid – I decided to team up with a few young and talented composers, some in Europe, some in the US. Not even 1 year after that, the team now consists of about 60 very talented composers who I feed with briefings for music for commercials, trailers, video games and almost every media. In November 2022, I worked on a trailer for the Netflix movie ‘Blonde’ with my teammate Marvin McMahon and we won 2 Clio awards. After several other nominations, I felt it was time to expand and I decided to partner with an old friend. We started RIVAL in May 2023 and in a very unexpected and spectacular way, we quickly entered into 2 additional partnerships: A major UK publishing company approached us to create trailerized versions of film scores written by the world’s most famous film composers. Just weeks after, a french AI and tech company offered us a partnership in order to develop and promote AI-based music tools. 2023 is a very promising year for me as I realize the power of diversification even more than before.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
I always felt that I was a team leader but it took me many years to acknowledge it and to use it as a skill. I was also lucky enough to speak my father’s (German) and my mother’s (French) language which turned into a massive advantage in terms of diversification, even more when I moved to the US. I consider myself an optimist and I like people. I’m always curious to hear about someone’s journey, experiences and accomplishments.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
In 2007, the internet, Napster and others had severely impacted the revenue stream of the record industry, my main employers at the time. In need of orientation and guidance – even questioning my future in music – I attended a professional coaching program in Paris. Christine, my coach extraordinaire gave me a first assignment: I should write down my vision of myself 5 years in the future. First I was hesitant as I had no idea what to write bur Christine insisted and said: “write down your dream, just dream and write it down”. After I was done, she read it and I didn’t look at it until I remembered 5 years later and guess what: pretty much everything I had ‘predicted’ had actually happened. I was In LA, the city of my dreams with my wife and our son, I had very promising leads and was building my career quickly. I strongly believe that this coaching program played an essential role regarding my move to the US and my career development in the past 11 years.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://rival-la.com/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-neidhardt-7954797/
