Matt Villines

Last updated April 23, 2019

Matt Villines (June 5, 1977 – July 9, 2016) was an American film and television director, known for his work in comedy as one half of the comedic directing team Matt & Oz, with professional partner, Osmany Rodriguez.^[1]

Early life and education

Villines was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on June 5, 1977.^[2] He graduated from Bishop Kelley High School in 1995 and received his bachelor's degree in 2000 from the University of Oklahoma.^[3] Villines then moved to Los Angeles, where he enrolled at the Los Angeles Film School.^[1]

Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 45th-most populous city in the United States. As of July 2016, the population was 413,505, an increase of 12,591 over that reported in the 2010 Census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 991,005 residents in the MSA and 1,251,172 in the CSA. The city serves as the county seat of Tulsa County, the most densely populated county in Oklahoma, with urban development extending into Osage, Rogers, and Wagoner counties.

Bishop Kelley High School is an American Lasallian Catholic high school with 905 students, grades 9 to 12, located at 41st and Hudson Avenue, in the center of the Tulsa metropolitan area, on a campus spanning just over 47 acres. The school is a function of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Tulsa and operates in the Lasallian tradition of the Brothers of the Christian Schools.

A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to seven years. In some institutions and educational systems, some bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate degrees after a first degree has been completed. In countries with qualifications frameworks, bachelor's degrees are normally one of the major levels in the framework, although some qualifications titled bachelor's degrees may be at other levels and some qualifications with non-bachelor's titles may be classified as bachelor's degrees.

Career

Villines met his directing partner, Osmany "Oz" Rodriguez, while both were students at the Los Angeles Film School.^[1]^[3]^[2] The duo soon collaborated to create comedic video shorts, first for an early incarnation of SuperDeluxe.com before joining Funny Or Die.^[3] Known professionally as Matt & Oz, their Funny Or Die short digital films included "Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes," "The Wire: The Musical" (2012), and "The New Guy on New Girl with Zooey Deschanel," as well as a parody of parody of the Bing Crosby and David Bowie duet, "Peace on Earth."^[1]^[4]

Carlos Irwin Estévez, known professionally as Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. Sheen has appeared in films including Platoon (1986), Wall Street (1987), Young Guns (1988), Eight Men Out (1988), Major League (1989), Hot Shots! (1991), and The Three Musketeers (1993).

Zooey Deschanel American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter

Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, model, and singer-songwriter. She made her film debut in Mumford (1999) and next obtained a supporting role in Cameron Crowe's film Almost Famous (2000). Deschanel is known for her deadpan comedy roles in films such as The Good Girl (2002), The New Guy (2002), Elf (2003), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), Failure to Launch (2006), Yes Man (2008), and 500 Days of Summer (2009). She has ventured into more dramatic territory with Manic (2001), All the Real Girls (2003), Winter Passing (2005), and Bridge to Terabithia (2007). From 2011 to 2018, she played Jessica Day on the Fox sitcom New Girl, for which she received an Emmy Award nomination and three Golden Globe Award nominations.

Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. The first multimedia star, Crosby was a leader in record sales, radio ratings, and motion picture grosses from 1931 to 1954. His early career coincided with recording innovations that allowed him to develop an intimate singing style that influenced many male singers who followed him, including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes, and Dean Martin. Yank magazine said that he was "the person who had done the most for the morale of overseas servicemen" during World War II. In 1948, American polls declared him the "most admired man alive", ahead of Jackie Robinson and Pope Pius XII. Also in 1948, Music Digest estimated that his recordings filled more than half of the 80,000 weekly hours allocated to recorded radio music.

Villines and Rodriguez were hired by Saturday Night Live in 2012 to direct pre-taped digital shorts.^[1] Villines shorts at SNL included "(Home for the Holidays) Twin Bed," which was nominated for an Emmy Award in 2014.^[3] The directing duo's other SNL Digital Shorts included "Darrell's House," "Sad Mouse," "Monster Pals," "Back Home Ballers," and "Jay Z Story."^[1] Their memorable 2015 short, "A Thanksgiving Miracle," features family's Thanksgiving arguments interrupted by Adele's "Hello."^[4]

Saturday Night Live (SNL) is an American late-night live television variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title NBC's Saturday Night. The show's comedy sketches, which often parody contemporary culture and politics, are performed by a large and varying cast of repertory and newer cast members. Each episode is hosted by a celebrity guest, who usually delivers the opening monologue and performs in sketches with the cast as with featured performances by a musical guest. An episode normally begins with a cold open sketch that ends with someone breaking character and proclaiming, "Live from New York, it's Saturday Night!", properly beginning the show.

An SNL Digital Short is one in a series of comedic and often musical video shorts created for NBC's Saturday Night Live. Generally produced and written by The Lonely Island, the series was originated by Adam McKay, in collaboration with SNL hosts, writers, and cast members. The segments were originally recorded with consumer grade digital video cameras and edited on personal computers. It is usual for the episode's hosts and musical guests to take part in the episode's short, and several shorts have included celebrity cameos.

An Emmy Award, or simply Emmy, is an American award that recognizes excellence in the television industry, and is the equivalent of an Academy Award, the Tony Award, and the Grammy Award.

Villines and Rodriguez directed Taran Killam in the film, Brother Nature , which was produced by Lorne Michaels.^[1] The film, which finished production in 2014, was released on-demand in September 2016.^[5]

Taran Killam American actor and comedian

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Brother Nature is a 2016 American comedy film directed by Osmany Rodriguez and Matt Villines, from a screenplay by Mikey Day, Cameron Fay, and Taran Killam. It stars Killam, Bobby Moynihan, Gillian Jacobs, Rita Wilson and Bill Pullman. The film was released in a limited release and through video on demand on September 9, 2016, by Insurge Pictures and Samuel Goldwyn Films.

Lorne Michaels,, is a Canadian-American television producer, writer, actor and comedian best known for creating and producing Saturday Night Live and producing the Late Night series, The Kids in the Hall and The Tonight Show.

Death

Villines was diagnosed with advanced kidney cancer in 2014.^[1] He died on July 9, 2016, at the age of 39. He was survived by his wife, Linda, whom he married shortly before his diagnosis; his parents, Maggie and Elton Villines, and his sisters.^[3]

Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a type of cancer that starts in the cells in the kidney.

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References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fox, Jesse David (2016-07-11). "Saturday Night Live Director Matt Villines Has Died at 39". Vulture.com . Retrieved 2016-08-06.
1 2 Diaz, Ann-Christine (2016-07-12). "Farewell Matt Villines: Mad Ave, Hollywood Lose One of Their Brightest Funnymen". Advertising Age . Retrieved 2016-08-06.
1 2 3 4 5 Smith, Michael (2016-07-13). "Tulsa filmmaker known for 'SNL' projects dies of cancer at 39". Tulsa World . Retrieved 2016-08-06.
1 2 Agard, Chancellor (2016-07-11). "Saturday Night Live director Matt Villines dies at 39". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2016-08-06.
↑ Calvario, Liz (August 4, 2016). "'Brother Nature' Trailer: Taran Killam Faces Humiliation From Bobby Moynihan In New Comedy". Indiewire.com . Retrieved August 4, 2016.

External links

Matt Villines on IMDb

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[vulture-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Fox, Jesse David (2016-07-11). "Saturday Night Live Director Matt Villines Has Died at 39". Vulture.com . Retrieved 2016-08-06.

[adage-2] 1 2 Diaz, Ann-Christine (2016-07-12). "Farewell Matt Villines: Mad Ave, Hollywood Lose One of Their Brightest Funnymen". Advertising Age . Retrieved 2016-08-06.

[tw-3] 1 2 3 4 5 Smith, Michael (2016-07-13). "Tulsa filmmaker known for 'SNL' projects dies of cancer at 39". Tulsa World . Retrieved 2016-08-06.

[ew-4] 1 2 Agard, Chancellor (2016-07-11). "Saturday Night Live director Matt Villines dies at 39". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved 2016-08-06.

[5] Calvario, Liz (August 4, 2016). "'Brother Nature' Trailer: Taran Killam Faces Humiliation From Bobby Moynihan In New Comedy". Indiewire.com . Retrieved August 4, 2016.