Kaz Firpo

Last updated
Kaz Firpo
MKF2017.jpg
Born
Matthew Kazuo Firpo

(1990-08-14) August 14, 1990 (age 33)
San Francisco, California, U.S.
Alma mater New York University
Occupation(s)director
Photographer
Screenwriter

Matthew Kazuo Firpo is an American film director, screenwriter, and photographer. Along with his cousin, Ryan, he wrote the story for the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals . His debut documentary Refuge won Best Documentary at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, and had its world premiere at SXSW. [1] [2]

Contents

He graduated in 2012 from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts undergraduate program. At age 25, Firpo was named one of the Forbes 30 Under 30 in 2016. [3] His debut screenplay Ruin topped Hollywood's 2017 Black List. [4] Until 2020 he was known as Matt Firpo professionally; he changed his public name to Kaz Firpo (based on his middle name) prior to the release of Eternals.

Early life

Firpo was born and raised in San Francisco, California, the youngest son of artists Claudia Katayanagi and Patrick Firpo, and brother of creative director Danny Firpo. [5] He graduated from Sir Francis Drake High School in Marin County in 2008, making his first films with a borrowed video camera from school. [6] He then attended New York University, majoring in Film & Television and Classical Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts. [7]

Career

Firpo began as a commercial director straight out of film school, working with startups Snapchat and Tinder in their early days to direct their first commercials. [6] [8] His work with Tinder earned him a spot in Adweek 's 2015 Top Commercials of the Year. [9]

Firpo's directorial debut, Refuge, documented human stories from the Syrian refugee crisis. The film was shot in Leros, Lesvos, and Athens, Greece. [10] [11] The film premiered at SXSW, and won Best Documentary at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. [12] He went on to work internationally with UNICEF, creating an original documentary series highlighting their frontline work in Chiapas, Mexico and Kingston, Jamaica. [13]

His debut short film, Child's Play, starring Tony Award-winner David Alvarez, won Best Screenplay at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. [14]

Firpo's 2017 Black List-winning script, Ruin, co-written with his cousin and writing partner Ryan Firpo, had Margot Robbie attached, and Justin Kurzel set to direct. [15] [16] His original tropicpunk thriller Mimi from Rio was purchased in a bidding war by Netflix, and has Ridley Scott set to produce. [17]

In May 2018, it was announced that the Firpos were hired by Marvel Studios to write Eternals based on the Marvel Comics space gods of the same name, to be released as part of "Phase Four" of the MCU. [18] The film wrapped principal photography in February 2020, [19] and in May 2021 it was announced that the film's director, Academy Award-winner Chloé Zhao, and Patrick Burleigh, would share screenplay credit with the Firpos, and that the Firpos would receive sole story credit. [20] Eternals was released in November 2021, and grossed over $401 million worldwide, becoming the tenth-highest-grossing film of 2021. [21]

Netflix announced in 2021 that Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo had been hired to launch the Millarworld Cinematic Universe by adapting Mark Millar's epic adventure series, Prodigy, as a globetrotting tentpole franchise. [22] In October, Firpo created the YouTube Original Series SiGNALS, a mixed-media extravaganza exploring climate change through the wild hopes, fears, and anxieties of everyday objects. [23]

In November 2021, SlashFilm confirmed that Firpo is writing and directing his debut feature film, The Motor City Girls, a myth of the American midwest about five half-sisters with strange and dangerous powers hunting down a cult in 1990s Detroit. [24]

Filmography

Related Research Articles

<i>Prodigy</i> (comics)

Prodigy is a British comic book series created by Mark Millar and Rafael Albuquerque, who respectively write and illustrate the first volume, and published by Image Comics. The title was announced near the end of 2018 as the second comic book collaboration between Mark Millar and Netflix, after the company acquired the Millarworld imprint of creator-owned titles in the summer of 2017, and to be adapted as a film exclusive to the streaming service, along with other of the imprint's comic book series. The first volume ran for six issues from December 2018 to June 2019, and a trade paperback collecting the series, subtitled The Evil Earth, was released the following month.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Cox</span> English actor (born 1982)

Charlie Thomas Cox is an English actor based in the United States. He is best known for portraying Matt Murdock / Daredevil in the television series Daredevil (2015–2018) and other projects as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark Gregg</span> American actor, director, and screenwriter

Robert Clark Gregg Jr. is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for playing the original character Phil Coulson in films and television series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe from 2008 to 2021. Gregg also voiced Coulson in the animated television series Ultimate Spider-Man (2012–2017) and the video games Lego Marvel Super Heroes (2013), Marvel Heroes (2013), and Lego Marvel's Avengers (2016).

A. Scott Frank is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. Frank has received two Academy Award nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay for Out of Sight (1998) and Logan (2017). His film work, credited and uncredited, extends to dozens of films. In recent years, he has worked for Netflix on television miniseries, most prominently writing and directing The Queen's Gambit.

This Is That Productions was one of the leading independent feature film production companies. Established in 2002, and based in New York City, the company was founded and fully owned by Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Anthony Bregman, and Diana Victor. The four partners previously worked together at the groundbreaking Good Machine, which Ted Hope co-founded in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cary Joji Fukunaga</span> American filmmaker (born 1977)

Cary Joji Fukunaga is an American filmmaker. He is known for directing critically acclaimed films such as the thriller Sin nombre (2009), the period drama Jane Eyre (2011), the war drama Beasts of No Nation (2015) and the 25th James Bond film, No Time to Die (2021). He also co-wrote the Stephen King adaptation It (2017). He was the first director of East Asian descent to win the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series, as the director and executive producer of the first season of the HBO series True Detective (2014). He also directed and executive produced the Netflix limited series Maniac (2018), and executive produced and directed several episodes of the Apple TV+ miniseries Masters of the Air (2024).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Justin Kurzel</span> Australian film director

Justin Dallas Kurzel is an Australian film director.

Nicole Perlman is an American screenwriter, best known for co-writing the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014), and the story for Marvel's Captain Marvel (2019), and for Pokémon Detective Pikachu (2019).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Bailey (writer)</span> American writer based in Los Angeles

Mark Daniel Bailey is an American writer, best known for his documentary films, including Last Days in Vietnam (2014), Downfall: The Case Against Boeing (2022), and The Volcano: Rescue from Whakaari (2022). Bailey, together with his wife, filmmaker Rory Kennedy, own Moxie Films, a documentary film production company. The company produces documentaries "for broadcast and cable networks, including Netflix, HBO, PBS, A&E, National Geographic, Showtime, Discovery Channel, MTV, TLC, Lifetime Television, the Oxygen Network, and the Sundance Channel as well as for educational foundations and philanthropic organizations."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloé Zhao</span> Chinese-born filmmaker (born 1982)

Chloé Zhao is a Chinese-born filmmaker. She is known primarily for her work on independent films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macon Blair</span> American filmmaker, writer and actor

Macon Blair is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, comic book writer and actor known for his roles in the films Blue Ruin (2013) and Green Room (2015), as well as his directorial debut I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017).

Danny Ramirez is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Wes in The Gifted, Mario Martinez in On My Block, Joaquin Torres in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Lt. Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia in Top Gun: Maverick (2022).

<i>Nomadland</i> 2020 American drama film by Chloé Zhao

Nomadland is a 2020 American drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Chloé Zhao. Based on the 2017 nonfiction book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica Bruder, it stars Frances McDormand as a widow who leaves her life in Nevada to travel around the United States in her van as a nomad. A number of real-life nomads appear as fictionalized versions of themselves, including Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells. David Strathairn also stars in a supporting role.

<i>Eternals</i> (film) 2021 Marvel Studios film

Eternals is a 2021 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics race of the same name. Produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, it is the 26th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The film was directed by Chloé Zhao, who wrote the screenplay with Patrick Burleigh, Ryan Firpo, and Kaz Firpo. It stars an ensemble cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Lia McHugh, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Don Lee, Kit Harington, Salma Hayek, and Angelina Jolie. In the film, the Eternals, immortal alien beings, emerge from hiding after thousands of years to protect Earth from their ancient counterparts, the Deviants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">AGBO</span> American film and television production company

AGBO is an independent entertainment company based in Downtown Los Angeles, founded and led by Anthony and Joe Russo and Mike Larocca. The Russo Brothers are best known for their work in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, most notably Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Recent AGBO TV releases include Citadel, a television series with Amazon Prime Video starring Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Recent AGBO film releases include Extraction, written by Joe Russo and starring Chris Hemsworth; Extraction 2; The Gray Man with Netflix in 2022; and Academy Award-Winning Best Picture film Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Will Speck and Josh Gordon are an American filmmaker duo who generally work in the comedy genre. They have directed six feature films together. Their accolades include an Academy Award nomination.

Woman of the Hour is a 2023 American period crime drama film directed by Anna Kendrick in her directorial debut and written by Ian MacAllister McDonald. It is based on the life of serial killer Rodney Alcala, who in 1978 appeared on the television show The Dating Game in the midst of his murder spree. The film revolves around the events of the game show and stars Kendrick as contestant Cheryl Bradshaw.

Rachel Goldberg is an American film and television director, writer, and professor of film and media arts. She is known for her independent short films and her more recent work directing genre television.

References

  1. ↑ Ahern, Sarah (2017-02-11). "Santa Barbara Film Festival Announces 2017 Award Winners". Variety. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  2. ↑ "Refuge". South by Southwest. Archived from the original on March 10, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  3. ↑ Rooney, Jennifer (January 4, 2016). "2016 30 Under 30: Marketing & Advertising". Forbes . Archived from the original on January 7, 2016. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  4. ↑ Hipes, Patrick (2017-12-11). "The Black List 2017 Screenplays: Post-WWII Tale 'Ruin' Is No. 1 – Full Rankings". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  5. ↑ "Barneville-Carteret : un réalisateur américain sublime la station balnéaire" (in French). Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  6. 1 2 Wakeman, Gregory (2021-11-04). "How two Bay Area cousins scored a gig writing a Marvel movie". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  7. ↑ "Alum Named to Forbes 30 Under 30, LS". New York University. October 10, 2016. Archived from the original on April 18, 2017. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  8. ↑ Nudd, Tim (March 4, 2015). "Ad of the Day: Tinder Plus Takes a Girl on Wild Adventures in Love, Sex and Travel". AdWeek . Retrieved March 3, 2020.
  9. ↑ Burgi, Michael (August 17, 2015). "Check Out 9 of the Year's Best Written, Directed and Produced Videos". AdWeek . Retrieved May 22, 2021.
  10. ↑ Frej, Willa (2016-05-26). "Refugees Passing Through Greece Share Their Tragedies In Heartwrenching Film". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  11. ↑ Werft, Meghan (September 13, 2016). "Filmmakers Travel From NYC to Greece, Uncovering The Human Side of The Refugee Crisis". Global Citizen.
  12. ↑ Ahern, Sarah (2017-02-11). "Santa Barbara Film Festival Announces 2017 Award Winners". Variety . Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  13. ↑ "In Jamaica, Local Heroes Help Kids Build Safer Futures". UNICEF USA. Retrieved May 14, 2017.
  14. ↑ Burgett, Heather (May 12, 2013). "13th Annual Beverly Hills Film Festival Announces Award Winners at Gala Awards Ceremony – Fest Expands to Japan". Splash Magazines. Archived from the original on August 5, 2013. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Justin Kurzel Attached to Direct Hot Spec "Ruin," Which Has Multiple Studio Offers (Exclusive)". The Tracking Board. 2017-03-31. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
  16. ↑ McNary, Dave (2017-10-11). "Margot Robbie, Matthias Schoenaerts to Star in World War II Thriller 'Ruin'". Variety. Retrieved 2017-10-12.
  17. ↑ Fleming, Mike Jr. (2017-12-05). "Netflix Wins Sci-Fi Spec Script 'Mimi From Rio'". Deadline. Retrieved 2018-02-16.
  18. ↑ Kit, Borys (May 15, 2018). "Marvel Sets Black List Writers for 'Eternals' Movie (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved May 20, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Marvel's Eternals Movie Has Finished Filming". ScreenRant. 2020-02-02. Retrieved 2020-03-03.
  20. 1 2 Vary, Adam B. (May 24, 2021). "The 'Eternals' Trailer Finally Reveals How Chloé Zhao's Vision Will Fit in the MCU". Variety . Archived from the original on May 24, 2021. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
  21. ↑ "2021 Worldwide Box Office". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  22. ↑ Patten, Dominic (2021-05-06). "Netflix & Mark Millar Roll Out Big Plans With 'Super Crooks' Debut, Untitled Spy Show, 'Prodigy' Scribe + More". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  23. ↑ Hailu, Katie Song,Danielle Turchiano,Jennifer Yuma,Selome; Song, Katie; Turchiano, Danielle; Yuma, Jennifer; Hailu, Selome (2021-09-23). "YouTube Originals Acquires 'Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers' (TV News Roundup)". Variety. Retrieved 2022-01-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  24. ↑ Mathai, Jeremy (2021-11-21). "Eternals Screenwriters' Next Movie Is 'The Matrix Meets The Virgin Suicides' [Exclusive]". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2022-01-16.
  25. ↑ Plastic Must Die | SiGNALS , retrieved 2022-01-16
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.