My friend and collaborator Richard Bleasdale, who has died unexpectedly aged 59, was a true innovator whose software design helped to revolutionise the live entertainment industry.
In the 1990s, Richard wrote the programme for the first media server, Catalyst, which came to market in 2001. A media server is a computer system that manages video and audio files for live show control programming. Today, media servers control virtual environments across the world, such as the Sphere in Las Vegas, digital cinematography in film production, theatre and dance shows, broadcast events such as the Eurovision song contest and Strictly Come Dancing, and immersive art installations.
It was while working as a lighting console technician in the mid-90s that Richard became frustrated by an industry problem that nobody else could solve. An autodidact, he left his job to independently develop the show-control tool SAMSC that was used for Catalyst. This enabled the integration of all of a show’s elements using a single Mac computer.
Nicknamed “Pixel Daddy”, Richard continued to innovate by keeping Catalyst in regular development. Catalyst’s spin-off, PixelMAD, was developed by Richard for Radiohead’s 2003 world tour. This took pixels on screen and converted them to DMX protocols (normally used to control devices such as lights or fog machines). Because the pixels could be programmed, a new field of possibilities opened up.
Catalyst and PixelMAD were not just new bits of software, but invented an entire new way of working visually, bridging art and technology. “No book on the evolution of the live production world would be complete without [Richard] in it,” said his friend and fellow industry professional James Heron, formerly of Green Hippo.
Born in Huddersfield to Joyce (nee Martin), a teacher, and Stephen Bleasdale, an engineer and businessman, Richard attended St David’s primary school and Wakefield independent grammar school before obtaining a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Imperial College London (1987). He then attended sound engineering courses at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire.
Richard’s first job was at Vari-Lite, after which he went freelance. Fiercely individual, he chose to hold the reins of his business close and make himself personally available to clients and artists, providing solutions and creating custom code on the fly.
In 2005 Richard began a relationship with Bim Malcomson, a choreographer and dance educator. They settled in London and had two children, Hugo and Jane.
After a stroke in 2018, his attention shifted to recovery and spending time with his family. He was a connoisseur of good restaurants (and paying the bill), ancient history, experimental film-making, travelling and adventure.
He and Bim married in 2019. She survives him, as do his children, his mother, and two brothers, Robert and Tim.
