Matt Johnson (director)

Last updated
Matt Johnson
07 MEDLEY Matt Johnson Director Still.jpg
Johnson in 2022
Born (1985-10-05) October 5, 1985 (age 38)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Education York University
Occupation(s)Filmmaker, actor
Years active2007–present
Known for The Dirties
Operation Avalanche
Nirvanna the Band the Show
BlackBerry

Matt Johnson (born October 5, 1985) is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He first attracted accolades for his low-budget independent feature films, including The Dirties (2013), which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival, and Operation Avalanche (2016), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. [1] [2]

Contents

Johnson achieved widespread critical and commercial acclaim for his third feature film, BlackBerry (2023), which documented the rise and fall of the BlackBerry phone. The film premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, [3] and went on to win several accolades including the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association. [4]

Career

2007–2009: Early work

Johnson is known for co-creating, writing and starring in the low-budget web series Nirvanna the Band the Show from 2007 to 2009. [5]

2013–2014: The Dirties

Johnson achieved widespread critical acclaim in Canada with his first feature film The Dirties . [6] which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival. [7] He was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Editing at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for The Dirties. [8]

The film had a production budget of $10,000. After finishing production, an additional $45,000 was needed to secure licensing rights for the music used in the film. All the film's financing came "out of pocket." [9]

There was almost no scripted dialogue and several scenes were shot without some of the participants' awareness. [9] [10] [11]

2016: Operation Avalanche

Operation Avalanche premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Johnson had received an offer to premiere the film at the Toronto International Film Festival but declined, reasoning that the film would be lost in the large number of films shown there. [12] Lionsgate released it in the US on September 16, 2016. [13] He was nominated for Best Director at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017 for his work on Operation Avalanche. [14]

The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. [15] [16] Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "Matt Johnson and Owen Williams' wild, borderline-illegal stunt delivers big time on its crazy premise." [17] John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "likeable if not always convincing fantasy that gets much mileage from its period feel". [18] Anthony Kaufman of Screen Daily wrote that the film "comes across more as a rambling lark than a tightly conceived film". [19]

2016–2018: Nirvanna the Band the Show

Nirvanna the Band the Show was re-mastered and re-launched at the Toronto International Film Festival and subsequently as a television series on Viceland in fall 2016. [20] [21] The show stars Johnson and Jay McCarrol as "Nirvanna the Band," two hapless lifelong best friends and roommates, who engage in a series of complex publicity stunts around their home city of Toronto in the hopes of landing a gig at The Rivoli, despite the fact that they have never actually written or recorded a single song, nor taken any other steps to get their band ready. [22]

2023: BlackBerry

In 2022, Johnson directed and co-wrote, with Matthew Miller, the film BlackBerry , about the rise and fall of Canadian tech company Research in Motion. [23] The film stars Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, and Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis. [24] BlackBerry premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2023, [3] and attracted widespread critical acclaim. [25]

The film won several accolades, including the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association. [4]

The film broke the record for the most nominations for a film at the Canadian Screen Awards, with 17 nominations at the 2024 ceremony. [26]

Other work

In addition to his own productions, he has had acting roles in feature films such as Diamond Tongues , and the Kazik Radwanski projects How Heavy This Hammer , Anne at 13,000 Ft. and Matt and Mara .

Johnson made an animated spiritual successor to Nirvanna the Band the Show called Matt & Bird Break Loose in 2021. [27]

Johnson and Miller founded their own production house, Zapruder Films, in 2013. Three years later, in 2016, the company released its first project, Operation Avalanche. The company is still active today. [28] [29] [30]

Filmography

Film

As writer/director

YearTitleDirectorWriterProducerActorNotes
2013 The Dirties YesYesYesYesAlso editor, co-written with Evan Morgan
2016 Operation Avalanche YesYesYesYesCo-written with Josh Boles
2023 BlackBerry YesYesNoYesCo-written with Matthew Miller

As actor

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013 The Dirties Matt
2015 Diamond Tongues John Matheson
2015 How Heavy This Hammer Hardware Store Employee
2016 Operation Avalanche HimselfJohnson portrays a fictionalized version of himself
2019 Anne at 13,000 Ft. MattDifferent role to The Dirties
2023 BlackBerry Doug Fregin
2024 Matt and Mara MattDifferent role to The Dirties and Anne at 13,000 Ft.
The Heirloom Belligerent veterinarian

Television

As director

YearsTitleDirectorCreatorActorNotes
2017-2018 Nirvanna the Band the Show YesYesYesDirected all 16 episodes

As actor

YearsTitleRole
2017-2018 Nirvanna the Band the Show Matt

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toronto International Film Festival</span> Annual film festival held in Toronto, Canada

The Toronto International Film Festival is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, founded in 1976 and taking place each September. It is also a permanent destination for film culture operating out of the TIFF Lightbox cultural centre, located in Downtown Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce McDonald (director)</span> Canadian film director, film producer and film editor

Bruce McDonald is a Canadian film and television director, writer, and producer. Born in Kingston, Ontario, he rose to prominence in the 1980s as part of the loosely-affiliated Toronto New Wave.

Jay McCarrol is a Canadian musician, writer and actor, most noted as co-creator and co-star with Matt Johnson of Nirvanna the Band the Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ingrid Veninger</span> Canadian actress, film director and screenwriter

Ingrid Veninger is a Canadian actress, writer, director, producer, and film professor at York University. Veninger began her career in show business as a child actor in commercials and on television; as a teen, she was featured in the CBC series Airwaves (1986–1987) and the CBS series Friday the 13th: The Series (1987–1990). In the 1990s, she branched out into producing, and, in 2003, she founded her own production company, pUNK Films, through which she began to work on her own projects as a writer and director.

Rude is a 1995 Canadian crime film directed by Clement Virgo in his feature-length directorial debut. It was screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, before having its Canadian premiere at the 1995 Toronto International Film Festival as the opening film of the Perspectives Canada program.

<i>The Forbidden Room</i> (2015 film) 2015 Canadian film

The Forbidden Room is a 2015 Canadian experimental fantasy drama film co-directed by Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson, and written by Maddin, Johnson, and Robert Kotyk. The film stars Roy Dupuis, Clara Furey, Louis Negin, Jacques Nolot, Charlotte Rampling, Udo Kier, Gregory Hlady, Sparks, Karine Vanasse, Adele Haenel, Mathieu Amalric, Maria de Medeiros and Geraldine Chaplin.

Andrew Cividino is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his feature film directorial debut Sleeping Giant, which premiered at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, and for his frequent work as a director on the Emmy winning comedy Schitt's Creek, for which he won a Primetime Emmy at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards.

The Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian First Feature Film is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to a film judged to be the best Canadian feature film made by a first-time director.

The Toronto International Film Festival Award for Best Canadian Film is an annual juried film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to a film judged to be the best Canadian feature film.

<i>Operation Avalanche</i> (film) 2015 conspiracy thriller film by Matt Johnson

Operation Avalanche is a 2016 American-Canadian found footage conspiracy thriller film directed by Matt Johnson, who co-wrote the film with Josh Boles. Johnson and Owen Williams star as CIA agents who infiltrate NASA to expose a potential mole, only to become embroiled in a conspiracy to fake the Moon landing portion of the 1969 Apollo 11 mission.

<i>Nirvanna the Band the Show</i> Canadian television series

Nirvanna the Band the Show is a Canadian mockumentary television series based on the web series Nirvana the Band the Show, created by Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, who play fictionalized versions of themselves. It premiered on February 2, 2017 on Viceland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Johnny Ma</span> Chinese-Canadian film director

Johnny Ma is a Chinese-Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is best known for his debut feature film Old Stone, which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2016. The film won the awards for Best Canadian First Feature Film at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, and Best First Feature at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017. His second feature To Live To Sing premiered at the Director's Fortnight Section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kazik Radwanski</span> Canadian filmmaker (born 1985)

Kazik Radwanski is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. His early short films have been cited as part of the New Canadian Cinema movement. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2012 with Tower. His second feature film, How Heavy This Hammer (2015), screened at film festivals around the world and received critical acclaim.

The Toronto International Film Festival People's Choice Award is an annual film award, presented by the Toronto International Film Festival to the film rated as the year's most popular film with festival audiences. Past sponsors of the award have included Cadillac and Grolsch.

Canada's Top Ten is an annual honour, compiled by the Toronto International Film Festival and announced in December each year to identify and promote the year's best Canadian films. The list was first introduced in 2001 as an initiative to help publicize Canadian films.

<i>Black Conflux</i> 2019 Canadian drama film

Black Conflux is a 2019 Canadian drama film written and directed by Nicole Dorsey in her feature directorial debut. Starring Ella Ballentine, Ryan McDonald, Luke Bilyk, Olivia Scriven, Sofia Banzhaf, and Lawrence Barry, the film follows a teenage girl from Newfoundland and Labrador whose quest for independence leads her into the orbit of a mentally unstable and potentially violent man in his twenties.

Jared Raab is a Canadian writer and filmmaker, best known for his work on the television series Nirvanna the Band the Show.

Luis De Filippis is an Italian Canadian film director and screenwriter from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. She is most noted for her 2017 short film For Nonna Anna, which was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Live Action Short Drama at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019. The film went on to receive a Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

<i>BlackBerry</i> (film) 2023 Canadian film directed by Matt Johnson

BlackBerry is a 2023 Canadian biographical comedy-drama film directed by Matt Johnson from a script by Johnson and producer Matthew Miller and is the most nominated film in the history of the Canadian Screen Awards. It was loosely adapted from Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff's book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry. The film is a fictional account of the creation of the BlackBerry line of mobile phone by co-founders Douglas Fregin and Mike Lazaridis, and investor Jim Balsillie. Lazaridis is portrayed by Jay Baruchel, Balsillie is portrayed by Glenn Howerton, and Fregin is portrayed by Johnson. It also stars Rich Sommer, Michael Ironside, Martin Donovan, Michelle Giroux, SungWon Cho, Mark Critch, Saul Rubinek, and Cary Elwes in supporting roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Miller (filmmaker)</span>

Matthew Miller is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and advocate for women in film. He is also a contractual university lecturer. Miller's work has been featured at international film festivals and has garnered awards at TIFF, Sundance, and Berlin International Film Festival.

References

  1. ↑ "Why Matt Johnson is taking Operation Avalanche to Sundance instead of TIFF". Now . January 21, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  2. ↑ "How Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson boldly infiltrated NASA". The Globe and Mail . December 31, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  3. 1 2 "BlackBerry". Berlin International Film Festival . Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  4. 1 2 "BlackBerry, Swan Song Win Rogers Best Canadian Film and Best Canadian Documentary". Toronto Film Critics Association. 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  5. ↑ "Toronto through the eyes of Nirvanna The Band The Show's Jay McCarrol and Matt Johnson". blogTO. April 6, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  6. ↑ "The Dirties: A bravura debut for an up-and-coming Canadian filmmaker". The Globe and Mail . October 4, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  7. ↑ Godfrey, Alex (June 2, 2014). "The Dirties director Matt Johnson on fame and high-school shootings". The Guardian . Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  8. ↑ Hanna, Beth (13 January 2014). "Canadian Screen Award Nominations Include Villeneuve's 'Enemy,' Dolan's 'Tom at the Farm' and More | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  9. 1 2 "Interview with Matt Johnson, Director of 'The Dirties'". Indiewire. September 5, 2013.
  10. ↑ "BLOOD IN THE HALLWAY: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRTIES DIRECTOR MATT JOHNSON AND PRODUCER EVAN MORGAN". Toronto Film Scene. October 3, 2012.
  11. ↑ "MATTHEW JOHNSON Director of THE DIRTIES: Exclusive Sarasota Film Festival Interview". March 30, 2013.
  12. ↑ "How Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson boldly infiltrated NASA". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  13. ↑ Murthi, Vikram (2016-07-21). "'Operation Avalanche' Trailer: Alt-History Doc Goes Behind-The-Scenes of Faking the Moon Landing". IndieWire . Retrieved 2016-09-25.
  14. ↑ "Matt Johnson | Achievement in Direction | Canadian Screen Awards". Academy.ca. 2017-01-13. Retrieved 2017-02-22.
  15. ↑ "Operation Avalanche (2016)". Rotten Tomatoes . Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  16. ↑ "Operation Avalanche". Metacritic . Retrieved 2017-01-06.
  17. ↑ Debruge, Peter (2016-01-29). "Sundance Film Review: 'Operation Avalanche'". Variety . Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  18. ↑ DeFore, John (2016-01-22). "'Operation Avalanche': Sundance Review". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 2016-05-15.
  19. ↑ Kaufman, Anthony (2016-01-23). "'Operation Avalanche': Sundance Review". Screen Daily . Retrieved 2017-06-29.
  20. ↑ "Nirvanna the Band the Show is back – but this time it's bigger and on proper TV". Now . June 6, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  21. ↑ "TIFF 2016 announces its Canadian lineup, including films from Xavier Dolan, Deepa Mehta, Bruce McDonald". National Post . August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  22. ↑ "Nirvanna the Band the Show is back – but this time it's bigger and on proper TV". Now Magazine . June 6, 2016. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
  23. ↑ Manori Ravindran, "BlackBerry’: Story of Doomed Smartphone Company Casts Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton, XYZ Films Boards Sales for TIFF". Variety , August 23, 2022.
  24. ↑ Barry Hertz, "BlackBerry: Canadian film starring Jay Baruchel to chronicle rise and fall of Research In Motion". The Globe and Mail , August 23, 2022.
  25. ↑ "BlackBerry". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  26. ↑ "Matt Johnson's BlackBerry breaks Canadian Screen Awards record with 17 nominations". The Globe and Mail. 2024-03-06. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  27. ↑ Hertz, Barry (2021-10-14). "Canadian TV's most dangerous minds try something new: a cartoon on Amazon Kids+". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2023-01-21.
  28. ↑ "Why Matt Johnson is taking Operation Avalanche to Sundance instead of TIFF". Now . January 21, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  29. ↑ "How Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson boldly infiltrated NASA". The Globe and Mail . December 31, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  30. ↑ "How Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson boldly infiltrated NASA". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
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.