You’ve probably seen the photo. It’s 2018 in Brooklyn. The light is hitting a gold lamé Hugo Boss dinner jacket just right. Beside him stands BD Wong—the man who gave us iconic performances in Mulan and Jurassic Park—looking equally sharp. The internet, for a minute there, couldn't get enough of it.
But if you think Richert John Frederickson Schnorr is just "the guy who married BD Wong," you’re missing the most interesting parts of the story.
Honestly, the way we consume celebrity news is kinda broken. We see a wedding announcement and think we’ve got the full picture. With Richert, the real story is buried in the stacks of the New York Public Library and the digital evolution of how we actually read books in the 21st century.
Who is Richert John Frederickson Schnorr, really?
Richert isn't an actor. He’s a creative director and a visual storyteller who has spent over a decade figuring out how to make people care about institutions that most of us think of as "dusty."
He grew up in a Minnesota college town. That vibe—intellectual but grounded—seems to have stuck. He eventually made his way to New York, landing at Sarah Lawrence College where he studied dance and anthropology. If you’re wondering how dance translates to digital media, Richert has actually talked about this before. It’s about time and space. It’s about how a body (or a digital asset) moves through a frame.
After a stint at Parsons the New School for Design for his MFA, he didn't head to a corporate ad agency. He went to the New York Public Library (NYPL).
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The Instagram Revolution you probably used
Remember when everyone started reading full-length novels on Instagram Stories? That wasn't an accident. It was called "Insta Novels."
Richert was the Director of Digital Media at the NYPL during this era. Basically, his team took classics like Alice in Wonderland and The Yellow Wallpaper and formatted them for the "tap-to-advance" logic of social media. It was brilliant. It won Webby Awards. More importantly, it proved that the "attention economy" didn't have to be the enemy of literature.
When people search for Richert John Frederickson Schnorr, they usually find the wedding registry or the Page Six clips. But in the design world, he’s the guy who made the library "cool" again for a generation that forgets physical books exist.
That Brooklyn Wedding and the "Happiest Day"
We should probably talk about the wedding, though. Because it was, by all accounts, a vibe.
On October 7, 2018, Richert and BD Wong tied the knot at Giando on the Water in Brooklyn. They’d been together for eight years at that point. They met in 2010 at a singles mixer in New York organized by an online dating site. No, it wasn't a fancy Hollywood gala. It was a regular "let's meet people" event.
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- The Look: Richert’s gold jacket became an instant fashion reference.
- The Guest List: It was a mix of Broadway royalty and digital creators. Rosie O’Donnell was there.
- The Officiant: Cantor Sheera Ben-David.
Richert posted on Instagram afterward: "It really kinda is the happiest day of your life." It was one of those rare celebrity moments that felt actually human. No staged paparazzi shots, just a couple of guys who had been together nearly a decade finally making it official.
Life after the NYPL
Richert didn't stay at the library forever. In late 2019, he moved into the freelance world and eventually took on a Creative Director role at Viva Creative.
His work now is a lot more behind-the-scenes. He’s doing high-level creative direction for global brands—names like American Express, Sotheby’s, and various cruise lines. He’s moved from public service digital media to massive-scale brand experiences.
It’s a specific career arc: starting with the physicality of dance, moving into the data-heavy world of infographics, mastering the "soul" of a public institution, and finally scaling that up for the corporate world.
Why does he still matter in 2026?
In a world where "Creative Director" is a title people throw around on LinkedIn like confetti, Richert is an example of someone who actually understands the tech. He isn't just a "vibes" guy. He’s a producer, an editor, and a designer who knows how to code.
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He represents a bridge between the old-school New York intellectual scene and the new-school digital economy.
If you’re looking for a takeaway from his career, it’s probably this: Niche expertise is a superpower. He didn't try to be a generalist. He became the guy who knew how to make people look at a screen and feel like they were in a library (or a theater, or a ballroom).
What to do next if you're a creator
If you're inspired by Richert’s transition from a "theatre/dance kid" to a high-powered Creative Director, here is what you should actually look at:
- Look at his portfolio. Don't just look at the wedding photos. Check out his work on "Inside the NYPL." It’s a masterclass in how to film architecture and history without it being boring.
- Study the Insta Novels case study. If you're in marketing, this is the gold standard for "platform-native" content.
- Cross-train. Richert’s MFA in Design and Technology is what gave him the edge. If you’re a creative, learn the technical side. If you’re a techie, study the art.
The most successful people in the next decade aren't going to be the ones who just "use" AI or "make" content. They’re going to be the ones who, like Richert John Frederickson Schnorr, understand the human anthropology behind why we click, why we read, and why we show up.