Matthew A. Cherry

Last updated
Matthew A. Cherry
Born (1981-12-14) December 14, 1981 (age 42)
Occupations
Years active
  • 2007–present (film career)
Notable work Hair Love
SpouseCandice Wilson (m. 2020)
American football career
No. 2, 13, 14, 18
Position: Wide receiver
Personal information
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:203 lb (92 kg)
Career information
College: Akron
Undrafted: 2004
Career history
 * Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Player stats at NFL.com

Matthew A. Cherry (born December 14, [1] 1981) [2] [3] is an American film director, writer, producer, and former American football player. He wrote and directed two independent films, The Last Fall (2012), and 9 Rides (2016). He is best known for the 2019 Academy Award-winning animated short film, Hair Love . The Kickstarter campaign for Hair Love raised nearly $300,000 and broke the record for the highest amount raised for any short film on the platform. [4] [5] [6]

Contents

Early life

Cherry was raised in the Northwest Side of Chicago, Illinois, [3] and graduated from Loyola Academy in nearby Wilmette [7] in 1999. [8] He attended the University of Akron, where he played on the football team and earned a bachelor's degree in media. [9] [ better source needed ]

Cherry played college football for four seasons with the Akron Zips under head coach Lee Owens and was a second-team All-Mid-American Conference wide receiver. [10] He finished his career as the all-time leading receiver in school history [11] and ended his senior season with records for total receptions, [12] yards, touchdowns, punt return yards and punt return touchdowns.[ citation needed ]

Professional football career

Pre-draft measurables
HeightWeight 40-yard dash
6 ft 0+5⁄8 in
(1.84 m)		202 lb
(92 kg)		4.56 s
All values from Pro Day [13] [14]

Cherry signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an undrafted free agent following the 2004 NFL Draft. [15] He was waived during final roster cuts on August 29, 2004, [16] and re-signed to the team's practice squad on September 6. [17] The Cincinnati Bengals signed him off of the Jaguars' practice squad to their active roster on December 29, 2004, before the final game of the season. [15]

Cherry was waived by the Bengals during final roster cuts on August 29, 2005. [18] He worked out for the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League on September 9, 2005, [19] but left the team by September 21 without having played in a game. The Renegades franchise folded shortly after due to financial instability. [20]

Cherry signed with the Carolina Panthers in 2006, and was allocated to the Hamburg Sea Devils of NFL Europe. He was waived by Hamburg during final roster cuts on March 5, 2006. [21] He returned to the Panthers, but was waived on May 30, 2006. He signed with the Baltimore Ravens on August 3, 2006. [22] He was placed on injured reserve on August 30, 2006, and missed the entire season. [23]

Film career

Career beginnings

Cherry retired from football in 2007 to pursue a film career. [24] After initially working as a production assistant he began directing music videos. He directed the video for gospel song "Say Yes" by singer Michelle Williams. [24]

Cherry wrote and directed his first film, The Last Fall , in 2012. The film stars Lance Gross and Nicole Beharie. The film, which premiered at SXSW, received average critical reviews. [24] Peter Deburge of Variety described The Last Fall as a "tepid daytime-TV melodrama." [6] Gary Goldstein wrote in the Los Angeles Times , "this is an involving, sympathetic film unafraid to wear its sizable heart on its sleeve." [5] It won Best Screenplay at the American Black Film Festival.

His second film, 9 Rides , was shot entirely on an iPhone 6s, which may be the first feature film shot using the device. [25] Starring Dorian Missick, it premiered at SXSW in 2016. [26] Tom Harrington of The Daily Dot called it "a taut, attractive piece of work." [25] Shannon M. Houston reviewed the film for Paste and wrote, "9Rides is proof that Cherry is a storyteller who can do quite a bit with a modest budget (this is the first film shot on an iPhone 6s) and a simple premise." [27]

Hair Love

In 2017, Cherry created a Kickstarter campaign for a short animated film called Hair Love. [4] The campaign surpassed its initial goal of $75,000 and raised nearly $300,000. [4] He co-directed the film with Everett Downing and Bruce W. Smith, with Peter Ramsey and Pixar animator Frank Abney serving as executive producers. [28] On March 20, 2019, Sony Pictures Animation announced that they had picked up Hair Love, which was released in theaters alongside The Angry Birds Movie 2 on August 14, 2019. [29] The film won the 2020 Academy Award for Best Animated Short, with Cherry accepting the award alongside fellow producer Karen Rupert Toliver. [30]

In 2020, Cherry became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. [31] In October 2020, Cherry was revealed to be working on a project for Sony Pictures Animation, titled Tut. [32]

Television

In June 2020, Cherry signed a first-look deal with Warner Bros. Television. [33]

On July 7, 2020, HBO Max, ordered a 12-episode season of Young Love, a 2D animated series from Cherry based on his short film Hair Love. [34]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleWriterDirectorProducerOtherNotes
2012 The Last Fall YesYesYesNo
2016 9 Rides YesYesYesNo
2018 BlacKkKlansman NoNoYesNoExecutive producer
2019 Hair Love YesYesYesNoShort film
2023 Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse NoNoNoYesProduction consultant
TBATutNoYesNoNo

Television

YearTitleWriterDirectorProducerNotes
2019 Whiskey Cavalier NoYesNoEpisode: "Spain, Trains and Automobiles"
The Last O.G. YesCo-producer
Episode: "Sound of Da Police"
The Red Line NoEpisode: "We Need Glory for a While"
Mixed-ish Episode: "Bad Boys"
2019–2020 The Unicorn 2 episodes
2020 Black-ish 3 episodes
2020–2021 Saved by the Bell 2 episodes
2021 The Wonder Years Episode: "Science Fair"
2022 Kenan Episode: "Ghosts of Boyfriends Past"
The Kings of Napa 2 episodes
Grand Crew Episode: "Wine & Headlines"
Bel-Air Episode: "Can't Knock the Hustle"
Abbott Elementary Episode: "Ava vs. Superintendent"
2023 Ghosts 2 episodes
2023-2024 Young Sheldon 2 episodes
2023 Swagger 2 episodes

Related Research Articles

Wallace and Gromit is a British stop-motion animated comedy franchise created by Nick Park and produced by Aardman Animations. The main film series consists of four short films and one feature-length film, and has spawned numerous spin-offs and TV adaptations. The series centres on Wallace, a good-natured, eccentric, cheese-loving inventor, and Gromit, his loyal and intelligent anthropomorphic beagle. The first short film, A Grand Day Out, was finished and made public in 1989. Wallace was voiced by actor Peter Sallis until 2010 when he was succeeded by Ben Whitehead. While Wallace speaks very often, Gromit is largely silent and has no dialogue, communicating through facial expressions and body language.

The term independent animation refers to animated shorts, web series, and feature films produced outside a major national animation industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Plympton</span> American illustrator, animator, and film director

Bill Plympton is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Award–nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting with 2004's Guard Dog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aleksandr Petrov (animator)</span> Russian painter (born 1957)

Aleksandr Konstantinovich Petrov is a Russian animator and animation director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Lasseter</span> American filmmaker (born 1957)

John Alan Lasseter is an American film director, producer, and animator. He has served as the Head of Animation at Skydance Animation since 2019. Previously, he acted as the chief creative officer of Pixar Animation Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Disneytoon Studios, as well as the Principal Creative Advisor for Walt Disney Imagineering.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walt Disney Animation Studios</span> American animation studio

Walt Disney Animation Studios (WDAS), sometimes shortened to Disney Animation, is an American animation studio that creates animated features and short films for The Walt Disney Company. The studio's current production logo features a scene from its first synchronized sound cartoon, Steamboat Willie (1928). Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt Disney and Roy O. Disney, it is the oldest-running animation studio in the world. It is currently organized as a division of Walt Disney Studios and is headquartered at the Roy E. Disney Animation Building at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California. Since its foundation, the studio has produced 62 feature films, from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) to Wish (2023), and hundreds of short films.

<i>Ryan</i> (film) 2004 Canadian film

Ryan is a 2004 short animated documentary film created and directed by Chris Landreth about Canadian animator Ryan Larkin, who had lived on skid row in Montreal as a result of drug and alcohol abuse. Landreth's chance meeting with Larkin in 2000 inspired him to develop the film, which took 18 months to complete. It was co-produced by Copper Heart Entertainment and the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and its creation and development is the subject of the NFB documentary Alter Egos. The film incorporated material from archive sources, particularly Larkin's works at the NFB.

Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. Most of the studio's films are distributed worldwide by Sony Pictures Releasing under their Columbia Pictures label, while all direct-to-video releases are released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

<i>Shrek</i> (franchise) DreamWorks Animation media franchise

Shrek is an American media franchise created by DreamWorks Animation, loosely based on William Steig's 1990 picture book Shrek!. The series primarily focuses on Shrek, a bad-tempered but good-hearted ogre, who begrudgingly accepts a quest to rescue a princess, resulting in him finding friends and going on many subsequent adventures in a fairy tale world. It includes four animated films: Shrek (2001), Shrek 2 (2004), Shrek the Third (2007), and Shrek Forever After (2010). A short 4-D film, Shrek 4-D, which originally was a theme park ride, was released in 2003. Two television specials, the Christmas television special Shrek the Halls (2007) and the Halloween television special Scared Shrekless (2010), have also been produced. Two spin-off films were made centered around the character Puss in Boots: 2011's Puss in Boots and its sequel, 2022's The Last Wish. Additionally, a stage musical adaptation was made and premiered at Broadway for more than a year (2008–2010).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Ramsey</span> American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker

Peter A. Ramsey is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, and filmmaker. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's Rise of the Guardians (2012), becoming the first African American to direct a major American animated film, and co-directing Sony Pictures Animation's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). For Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, he became the first African American to be nominated for and win an Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

BENT IMAGE LAB is a production company and animation studio specializing in story development, television, commercials, visual effects, music videos, short films, experimental techniques and tech development in augmented reality (AR). Located in Portland, Oregon, the company was founded in 2002 by partners David Daniels, Ray Di Carlo, and Chel White.

Moongirl is an animated short produced in 2005 by Laika. It was written and directed by Henry Selick and features a score by They Might Be Giants. It is the first film, and currently the only short film, as well as the only non-stop-motion film, produced by the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">6 Point Harness</span> Production label for Mondo Media

6 Point Harness is an American animation studio and production label of Mondo Media based in Los Angeles. It develops and produces animated television programming, feature films, commercial, music videos and web-based content. Founded by Brendan Burch in 2003, some of the studio's most notable productions include Tom Hanks' Electric City, Fox's Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, MTV's Good Vibes, Nick Jr.'s Wow! Wow! Wubbzy!, Nickelodeon's El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, Adult Swim's Apollo Gauntlet and Lazor Wulf, the animated feature The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!, and the web series Dick Figures for the YouTube channel Mondo Media. 6PH also released Dick Figures: The Movie, an in-house production developed from the company's web series.

<i>Spirit</i> (franchise) DreamWorks Animation media franchise

Spirit is an American media franchise owned by DreamWorks Animation, which began with the 2002 animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron written by John Fusco from an idea by producer Jeffrey Katzenberg. The franchise follow the adventures of a Kiger Mustang stallion named Spirit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vashti Harrison</span> American writer, illustrator and filmmaker

Vashti Harrison is an American writer, illustrator and filmmaker based in Brooklyn, New York. Her book, Big, was awarded the 2024 Randolph Caldecott Medal. She was born in Virginia and her films and other artworks are rooted in Caribbean heritage and folklore.

<i>Love, Death & Robots</i> Adult animated anthology television series

Love, Death & Robots is an adult animated anthology television series created by Tim Miller and streaming on Netflix. Although the series is produced by Blur Studio, individual episodes are produced by different animation studios from a range of countries and explore diverse genres, particularly comedy, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. Each episode is connected to one or more of the three titular concepts. Miller serves as the showrunner and producer alongside Joshua Donen, David Fincher, and Jennifer Miller; most episodes are written by Philip Gelatt, and are adaptations of short stories.

<i>Hair Love</i> 2019 American film

Hair Love is a 2019 American animated short film directed by Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr., and Bruce W. Smith, and written by Cherry. It follows the story of a man who must do his daughter's hair for the first time, and features Issa Rae as the voice of the mother. The film was produced after a 2017 Kickstarter campaign, and was also released as a children's book in May 2019 with illustrations by Vashti Harrison. Hair Love received generally positive reviews and won Best Animated Short Film at the 92nd Academy Awards. A spin-off TV series titled Young Love was ordered by Max in July 2020 and premiered on September 21, 2023.

Karen Rupert Toliver is an American film producer. Toliver has worked as an executive at Walt Disney Animation Studios, 20th Century Fox Animation, and Sony Pictures Animation, and has supervised the production of films such as Ferdinand, Curious George and Meet the Robinsons. She is the executive vice president of creative development at Sony Pictures Animation. Toliver is best known for co-producing the short film Hair Love, for which she received the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2020.

Young Love is an American adult animated sitcom created by Matthew A. Cherry, based on the 2019 short film Hair Love. It premiered on Max on September 21, 2023.

References

  1. ↑ Cherry, Matthew A. (December 13, 2019). "My birthday is tomorrow". Matthew A. Cherry verified Instagram account. Archived from the original on 2021-12-24. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  2. ↑ "Former NFL WR Matthew A. Cherry wins Oscar for short animated film". ESPN. February 9, 2020. Archived from the original on June 11, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020. Cherry, 38 [as of February 9, 2020]...
  3. 1 2 Moore, Evan F. (December 31, 2019). "NFL to Hollywood: Northwest Side native Matthew A. Cherry's 'Hair Love' makes Oscars' short list". Chicago Sun-Times . Archived from the original on July 8, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020. Cherry, 38 [as of December 31, 2019], grew up on the Northwest Side playing Pop Warner football at Portage Park and baseball at Gompers Park.
  4. 1 2 3 Patten, Dominic (2019-03-20). "Sony Animation Picks Up 'Hair Love' Short From 'BlacKkKlansman' EP Matthew A. Cherry". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  5. 1 2 "Movie review: 'The Last Fall' paints grim picture of post-NFL life". Los Angeles Times. 2012-10-25. ISSN   0458-3035 . Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  6. 1 2 Debruge, Peter (2012-04-03). "The Last Fall". Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. ↑ Carter, Kelley L. (May 4, 2019). "Matthew Cherry moved from the practice squad in the NFL to first string in Hollywood". Andscape . Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  8. ↑ Cherry, Matthew A.(verified account) [@matthewacherry] (October 20, 2018). "Got inducted into my high school's Hall Of Fame tonight" (Tweet). Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020– via Twitter. "Matt Cherry '99
  9. ↑ "Who Is Matthew A. Cherry?". The Urban Daily. Retrieved March 22, 2019.
  10. ↑ "Zips' former gridiron star scores big in new career". UAkron.edu. November 7, 2012. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  11. ↑ "Former Zips Wideout Signed By Cincinnati Bengals". CBS Sports Network. December 29, 2004. Retrieved 2011-07-29.[ dead link ]
  12. ↑ "Akron Looks to Make it Five-Straight Saturday at Ohio". CBS Sports Network. November 9, 2004. Retrieved 2011-07-29.[ dead link ]
  13. ↑ "2004 NFL Draft Scout Matt Cherry College Football Profile". DraftScout.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Matt Cherry 2004 NFL Draft Profile". insider.espn.com. Retrieved July 18, 2023.
  15. 1 2 "Bengals put rookie Chris Perry on injury list". The Tribune. December 30, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  16. ↑ "Transactions". The New York Times . August 29, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  17. ↑ "Football". The Times. September 7, 2004. Retrieved February 9, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  18. ↑ "Transactions". Baltimore Sun . August 29, 2005. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  19. ↑ Sekeres, Matthew (September 10, 2005). "Renegades cannon-fodder". The Ottawa Citizen . Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved February 9, 2020– via Newspapers.com.
  20. ↑ Holder, Gord (September 24, 2017). "Renegade filmmaker: Short-lived CFLer Matthew A. Cherry gets animated". The Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  21. ↑ "Teams make roster cuts as training camp closes". OurSportsCentral.com. March 5, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  22. ↑ Hensley, Jamison and Edward Lee (August 3, 2006). "Hamstring still slows Clayton". BaltimoreRavens.com. Archived from the original on August 6, 2006. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  23. ↑ "Transactions". Deseret News . Salt Lake City, Utah. August 30, 2006. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
  24. 1 2 3 Busch, Anita (2016-04-01). "NFL Player-Turned-Director Matthew Cherry Signs With ICM Partners". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  25. 1 2 "Get in the back seat with '9 Rides,' a feature film shot entirely on iPhone 6s". The Daily Dot. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  26. ↑ Mumin, Nijla (2016-03-18). "SXSW Review: '9 Rides' Take Us On An Engrossing Drive". IndieWire. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  27. ↑ "9 Rides". pastemagazine.com. 21 March 2016. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  28. ↑ Milligan, Mercedes (August 11, 2019). "Lion Forge Animation Debuts with 'Hair Love' Partnership". Animation Magazine . Retrieved December 5, 2019.
  29. ↑ "Viral animated short Hair Love to make theatrical debut with Angry Birds Movie 2". Entertainment Weekly . August 5, 2019.
  30. ↑ "The 92nd Academy Awards: 2020". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on October 20, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  31. ↑ "Academy Invites 819 to Membership" (Press release). Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. June 30, 2020. Archived from the original on November 4, 2020. Retrieved November 10, 2020.
  32. ↑ Donnelly, Matt (October 14, 2020). "Oscar Winner Matthew A. Cherry's Debut Feature 'Tut' in the Works at Sony Pictures Animation (EXCLUSIVE)" . Retrieved July 3, 2022.
  33. ↑ White; White (2020-06-17). "Warner Bros Television Signs First-Look Deal With 'Hair Love' Director Matthew A. Cherry". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  34. ↑ "Matthew Cherry's 'Hair Love' Becoming HBO Max Animated Series". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2020-07-21.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.