Matt Finlin

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Matt Finlin is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, [1] who is partner with Karen Barzilay in the Door Knocker Media film studio. [2] He is most noted for his 2024 film The Movie Man . [3]

Contents

Background

Born and raised in Cambridge, Ontario, [1] he studied psychology at the University of Guelph. [4] His student film Pipe Dreams was screened at the university in 2006. [4] He then spent some time working as an English as a Second Language teacher in Taiwan, [5] where he made the short film The Glass Box, about Taiwan's betel nut trade. [6]

He then spent some time living in New York City, where he released the film Below New York, a short documentary about the city's subway buskers, in 2011. [7]

Door Knocker

Finlin joined Door Knocker Media in 2014. With the company he worked as a director and producer of television specials and sponsored films for charitable organizations, including We Day specials, [8] and a posthumous tribute special to actor Leslie Jordan. [9]

The Movie Man, his feature documentary debut, premiered in February 2024 at the 39th Santa Barbara International Film Festival, [10] and had its Canadian premiere at the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. [3] The film received a Vancouver Film Critics Circle award nomination for Best Canadian Documentary at the Vancouver Film Critics Circle Awards 2024. [11]

In 2025 Finlin released Matter of Time, a film profiling Eddie Vedder's series of fundraising concerts to raise money for reseearch into a cure for epidermolysis bullosa. [12]

References

  1. 1 2 Sean Sutherland, "Cambridge native brings his ode to small-town cinema to Waterloo". Cambridge Today , April 12, 2024.
  2. Pete Hammond, "‘The Movie Man’, A Kind Of Canadian ‘Cinema Paradiso’ And Underdog New Documentary For Film Lovers, Tries To Find Its Way Into Fall Festivals – TIFF And Telluride, Are You Listening?". Deadline Hollywood , July 21, 2023.
  3. 1 2 Sarah Bea, "'The Movie Man' Celebrates the Cinematic Marvel of Ontario Cottage Country". Exclaim! , February 28, 2024.
  4. 1 2 "U of G Alum Debuts Film". Guelph Tribune , July 11, 2006.
  5. Steve Burgess, "Cheap Smokes, But a Long Way from Home". Calgary Herald , March 16, 2007.
  6. Colin Hunter, "Nutty habit inspires tale of two women". Waterloo Region Record , October 7, 2008.
  7. "Local filmmaker premieres documentary at prestigious North by Northeast filmfest". Waterloo Region Record , June 14, 2011.
  8. Brittany Carloni, "Bonita Springs family on ABC special, hosted by John Stamos, about people making a difference". Naples Daily News , August 14, 2018.
  9. Meaghan Darwish, "‘Reportin’ for Duty: A Tribute to Leslie Jordan’: Mayim Bialik, Jim Parsons & More Head Star-Studded Show". TV Insider, April 20, 2023.
  10. Kelly Townsend, "Send Kelp!, The Movie Man to world bow in Santa Barbara". Playback , January 18, 2024.
  11. Nicholas Sokic, "Ann Marie Fleming’s Can I Get A Witness? leads VFCC noms". Playback , January 23, 2025.
  12. Sandra Gonzalez, "Eddie Vedder’s quest to help cure a rare disease subject of new documentary". CNN, April 17, 2025.