Amato sustained his work in music videos by embracing digital film-making.[6][7] In 2006, Amato established a partnership with his best friend, Heath Ledger.[8] Amato told the Los Angeles Times in 2009,
What Heath brought to us at the Masses was his pure creative energy, chessboards and surfboards.[9]
The Masses started developing their own movie projects.[10] During this time, Ledger also developed the screenplay with Amato for what would be Amato's first movie, Never My Love. “I was very well aware of the movies Heath wanted to make, because we shared the same values,” Amato reflects.
We definitely wanted to make movies for smart women. I think he had his daughter in mind, as well. We hated violence in our culture. We’re very against it. We wanted to flip that paradigm and focus on women and love, and chess.[11]
Amato was on location in Eau Claire, WI directing Bon Iver’s first video the day Ledger died.[12] “It was no longer about just making a Bon Iver music video anymore,” the group’s singer-songwriter Justin Vernon says. “This was now our chance to be there with Matt as he grieved. It was a three-day wake."[13]
The Masses 2.0 (2010s)
Matt. I could never ever say enough about Matt Amato. He has an indescribable presence; this warm loving serene calm with intense interest and excitement bubbling beneath his exterior. He's some sort of amazing mind reader and balances it with his trust in you and yours in him. Example, that kiss was not planned (at least not to my knowledge) and yet I felt like it was somehow almost our idea together... It was truly such a wonderful experience and so, so fun to be apart of a visual artist's world for a moment. - Madi Diaz singer/songwriter [14]
Amato joined forces with Executive Producer Jack Richardson in what was essentially the Masses 2.0. The Masses functioned as a directors agency representing music video directors in Los Angeles: Ben Fee, Ben Kutsko, Chris Coats, Alistair Legrand, Isaiah Seret, Elliot Sellers, Raúl Fernández, Eli Stonberg, Alex Pelly to name just a few.[15] The Masses also assisted in the creation of OMG! Cameras Everywhere!, a music video making summer camp for young people in Los Angeles, London and NYC.[16] Amato's "gorgeous, incredibly cinematic"[17] videos are known for their intimacy,[18] spontaneity[19] and sense of place[20] often filming on location.[21] Amato says,
It's about connecting with people. I've had some great opportunities to connect in a very personal way with some of the artists I worked with on music videos. There is that sense of nostalgia, even while you're there, on some music videos. I'm thinking particularly of the family I stayed with in Scotland when I did the Withered Hand video. Or working with Justin out in the woods during the Bon Iver video. Those are very powerful memories for me.[22]
For Barbra Streisand's Release Me, "While Streisand had recorded the unreleased song in 1970, Amato did not direct the video until 2012. Consequently, he had to jog the memories of the original producer, Richard Perry, about important details of the original recording. Amato reproduced small details such as the original type of microphone preferred by Streisand and the setting of the recording. Amato describes it as “an exercise in verisimilitude.”[23] Amato invited "Kodachrome-drenched journeying"[24] actress Michelle Williams to work with him on a "wistful"[25] and "visually arresting"[26] music video for Wild Nothing's Paradise.[27][28] Amato "comely grasps the elusive feeling of the song" and captures "Williams’ especially moving and elegant performance that elevates the video to absolute emotional harmony."[29]
I Am Heath Ledger (2017)
Ledger behind-the-scenes of his music video for Ben Harper's Morning Yearning
Amato signed on as an Executive Producer and creative consultant on the documentary film, I Am Heath Ledger. He traveled to Perth, Australia to work with Ledger's family and to insure it would be a magnanimous sketch of his friend and partner.[30] It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival with a Q+A involving Amato and Ledger's sisters, Ashleigh Bell and Kate Ledger.[31] The "uncommonly tender" documentary is heralded for its sensitivity while reflecting on the actor's artistic nature as told by his most faithful friends and loved ones.[32] "I Am Heath Ledger is a cinematic portrait of Ledger the artist. Devoid of gossip and any hint of salaciousness," one reviewer noted. "The result is refreshing, insightful, and also devastatingly sad."[33] It currently holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.[34] "I'll always have my reservations with the final product. But, overall, it's a very positive portrait of a real lover of life, and his family truly loves it.Their appreciation of it means a lot to me and made it worth doing.”[35] Amato told MTV News. “And I felt like there needed to be an anecdote to all of the gossip that's out there.”[36]
I don’t need to defend Heath or tell people how you should feel about Heath because you already have a feeling about Heath. He did his job beautifully. He was a communicator. He reached people, and that was his art.[37]
Never My Love (2024)
Amato returned to his hometown of St. Louis to write and direct his debut feature, Never My Love, (aka The Makings Of You) starring Sheryl Lee, Grace Zabriskie and Jay R. Ferguson.[38] After resolving legal issues concerning an investor,[39][40] Amato completed the movie as it was intended in 2024 and is looking forward to its official release. An early cut of the movie garnered some glowing reviews; this one from The Hollywood Reporter:
Sheryl Lee + Jay R. Ferguson in Never My Love
This beautifully acted and photographed drama leaves a lasting impression. Amato, a veteran helmer of music videos, invests the proceedings with a subtle, dreamlike quality that gives the film an undeniable, but never stultifying, artsy feel. If you're not already in love when you see the film, you'll desperately want to be afterwards.[41]
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the first performer awarded an EGOT.
The Movie Album is the thirtieth studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand, released on October 14, 2003, by Columbia Records. Overall, her sixtieth release with her record label, it was executively produced by Streisand and her manager, Jay Landers. A concept album, it contains twelve songs from the singer's favorite films ranging in release from 1935 to 1988. While curating the album, Streisand was inspired by her marriage to actor James Brolin to record songs about love and relationships. To better fit her needs, songwriting duo Alan and Marilyn Bergman were commissioned to add lyrics to several of the songs Streisand had chosen to record.
"I Finally Found Someone" is a song by American singer Barbra Streisand and Canadian singer Bryan Adams. The power ballad was part of the soundtrack of Streisand's 1996 self-directed movie The Mirror Has Two Faces and was nominated for an Oscar. Several versions of a CD single were issued on its initial release. One contains a rare Spanish-language version of her 1976 song "Evergreen", as well as Adams' previous single "Let's Make a Night to Remember". Another version includes three solo recordings by Adams from his most recent album.
"Lost in the World" is a song by American hip hop recording artist Kanye West from his fifth studio album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy (2010). The song features vocals by Justin Vernon of indie folk band Bon Iver, as well as sampling his 2009 song "Woods". It also contains portions of "Soul Makossa" written by Manu Dibango, and samples of "Comment No. 1", performed by Gil Scott-Heron. It was produced by West and Jeff Bhasker, who wrote the track with Vernon and Malik Jones. "Lost in the World" was initially leaked on September 29, 2010, and was 5 minutes and 55 seconds long. The version on the album was divided into two parts, with the outro becoming a new track entitled "Who Will Survive in America".
"King Rat" is a song by indie rock band Modest Mouse and appears as the title track to their fifth promotional single, following "The World At Large". The single was later released on the band's 2009 EP No One's First, and You're Next. The promo also features the song "Fire It Up" from their 2007 album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.
Bon Iver is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon, Sean Carey, Michael Lewis, Matthew McCaughan, Andrew Fitzpatrick, and Jenn Wasner
Heath Andrew Ledger was an Australian actor. After playing roles in several Australian television and film productions during the 1990s, he moved to the United States in 1998 to further develop his film career. His work consisted of 20 films in a variety of genres, including 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), The Patriot (2000), A Knight's Tale (2001), Monster's Ball (2001), Casanova (2005), Lords of Dogtown (2005), Brokeback Mountain (2005), Candy (2006), I'm Not There (2007), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus (2009), the latter two of which were posthumously released. He also produced and directed music videos and aspired to be a film director.
Love Is the Answer is the thirty-second studio album by American singer Barbra Streisand released on September 29, 2009. The album consists of jazz standards and was produced by Diana Krall and Tommy LiPuma. It also features Krall on piano and orchestral arrangements by Johnny Mandel, Anthony Wilson and Alan Broadbent. A deluxe edition contains a bonus disc featuring versions of the songs with just Streisand's vocals and Krall's quartet.
Duck Sauce is an electronic music superduo, formed in 2009 in New York City. The duo consists of American DJ Armand van Helden and Canadian DJ A-Trak. They are best known for their 2010 single "Barbra Streisand".
Cause an Effect is the first album by the former 1200 Techniques frontman, N'fa. The Australian hip hop artist collaborated with various producers around the world including Roots Manuva, Mr Yoshiaki, DJ Peril and Deceptikonz. Three singles were released from the album, "Seduction Is Evil ", "Cause an Effect" and "Universal King ". The actor Heath Ledger conceived and directed two music videos for the album, "Seduction Is Evil ", and the title track "Cause an Effect", with the latter being edited by Matt Amato from Amato and Ledger's production company, The Masses.
N'fa is a British-born African Australian hip hop recording artist. He was born in London, but raised in Perth, Western Australia, and is best known as the frontman for 1200 Techniques. Forster-Jones was a nationally ranked 110m hurdler and placed third at the 2001 and 2002 Australian Championships, and fourth in the 2000 Olympic trials. His personal best recorded time was 14.08s set in Brisbane on 25 March 2001, though clocked 13.91 "unofficial" in Auckland's trans-Tasman test meet in 2001.
Bon Iver is the second studio album from American indie folk band Bon Iver, released on June 17, 2011. The album is composed of 10 songs and was seen as a new musical direction for the band.
The discography of American indie folk band Bon Iver consists of four studio albums, two extended plays (EP), eight singles and four music videos. The material has been released by the Jagjaguwar label in North America and by the 4AD label in Europe.
Release Me is a 2012 compilation album of eleven rare and previously unreleased studio performances by American singer Barbra Streisand.
"Left in the Dark" is a song by Jim Steinman from his only solo album Bad for Good.
"We're Not Makin' Love Anymore" is a song recorded by American singer Barbra Streisand for her fourth greatest hits album, A Collection: Greatest Hits...and More (1989). It was released on September 14, 1989 by Columbia Records on 7-inch, 12-inch, cassette, and CD. It was written by Michael Bolton and Diane Warren and produced by Narada Michael Walden. Bolton's inspiration for the song was derived from his divorce; he and Warren debated what singer would be able to sing their work well and ultimately decided that Streisand would be the right fit. The song is a ballad that is similar in sound to Streisand's "Comin' In and Out of Your Life" (1981).
The Makings of You, also known as Never My Love, is a drama film directed by Matt Amato and starring Sheryl Lee and Jay R. Ferguson. The movie was shot in the director's hometown of St. Louis and is a "labor of love that includes some of the most beautiful images of his hometown ever captured on film." It is the reunion of Twin Peaks alum Sheryl Lee and Grace Zabriskie as mother and daughter, who also produced the film, with production company The Masses. The director is releasing a reedited version of the film in 2021.
Live at the Bon Soir is the tenth live album by American singer Barbra Streisand. Originally intended as her debut album, the material was recorded over three nights in November 1962 shortly after Streisand was signed by Columbia Records. Retrieved from Streisand's archives and remastered, the live recordings were released November 4, 2022, to coincide with the sixtieth anniversary of the original tapings.
I Am Heath Ledger is a 2017 Paramount Network documentary film about actor Heath Ledger, who died in 2008. Directed by Adrian Buitenhuis and Derik Murray, the film presents interviews with Ledger's family, friends and collaborators.
Release Me 2 is a compilation album of ten rare and previously unreleased recordings by American singer Barbra Streisand. Released on CD, vinyl and digital formats on August 6, 2021, it is a follow-up to her 2012 compilation Release Me.
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