Matthew Harrison (born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

) is an American television and

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

, producer and writer. He first came to prominence when his feature film '' Rhythm Thief'' was awarded Special Jury Recognition for Directing at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. His first studio feature '' Kicked in the Head'' was executive produced by

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November17, 1942) is an American filmmaker. One of the major figures of the New Hollywood era, he has received List of awards and nominations received by Martin Scorsese, many accolades, including an Academ ...

and released by

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

. He directed episodes 1X11 and 1X12 of HBO's ''

Sex and the City ''Sex and the City'' is an American romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama television series created by Darren Star for HBO, based on Sex and the City (newspaper column), the newspaper column and 1996 book by Candace Bushnell. It premiered in th ...

''.

Early films

Harrison attended PS 41 in downtown Manhattan where he began making 8mm films at age nine. During the 60's, 70's and 80's, Harrison made 8mm and S8mm short films. His first public screening of a film was a 1971 screening of his short S8mm film ''Mission: Preposterous'' with an accompanying audio track played using a Wollensak ¼" tape recorder at the Ocean Bay Park Volunteer Fire Department. He completed his undergraduate studies at

Cooper Union The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly known as Cooper Union, is a private college on Cooper Square in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Peter Cooper founded the institution in 1859 after learning about the government-s ...

school of art in New York City. Harrison's 34 minute S8mm film '' Apartment Eight'' won ''Best Comedy'' at the 1988 New York Film Festival Downtown, was included in

Anthology Film Archives Anthology Film Archives is an international center for the film preservation, preservation, film studies, study, and film distribution, exhibition of film and video, with a particular focus on independent film, independent, experimental film, ex ...

“Masters of Super 8” program and received the ''Mystic Fire Independent Film Award'' at the 1989 Ann Arbor Film Festival. In 1989 his 27-minute 16mm short film ''Two Boneheads'' screened at the Salzburg, Austria Film Festival and was an award winner at the 1990 Long Island Film Festival.

Film Crash

In 1985 Harrison launched a film festival in the

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

, adopting the name Film Crash in early 1988. He was joined later that year by film directors Karl Nussbaum and Scott Saunders. Film Crash grew, playing in venues such as Performance Space 122 and the

Angelika Film Center Angelika Film Center is a movie theater chain in the United States that features independent and foreign films. It operates theaters in New York City, Texas, Washington, D.C., California, and Virginia. Its headquarters are in New York City. ...

. The festival inaugurated awards in 2014.Eric Norcross, "Film Crash 2014 Award Winners", ''Renegade Cinema'', October 20, 2014

Films for theater

During the 1980s and 1990s, Harrison was also a contributing member of the experimental theater group Ridge Theater, producing and directing films for several theater productions, including '' Jack Benny'' at La Mama in 1988 and '' The Manson Family'' opera at

Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 ...

in 1990.

Feature films

In 1992 Harrison's first feature film '' Spare Me'' was awarded the Prix Tournage at

Avignon Film Festival {{unreferenced, date=November 2021 The Avignon Film Festival (created 1984), also known as the Avignon/New York Film Festival or Rencontres Cinématographiques Franco-Américain d'Avignon, took place every year in Avignon, France along with a twin ...

. He used the cash award from this prize to finance his second feature film '' Rhythm Thief'', which was awarded Special Jury Recognition for Directing at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. He directed his feature '' Kicked in the Head'' for October Films in 1997. Kicked in the Head was executive produced by

, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight

section of the 1997

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...

and was released theatrically by

. On June 28, 2006, Harrison premiered his feature film '' The Deep and Dreamless Sleep'' at the

Television

He directed episode 7 of ''Popular'' for The WB Television Network and the television show '' Dead Last'' for Warner Brothers. According to InkTip.com, Harrison recently optioned the screenplay from screenwriter Anthony Keep, for the original pilot episode of the 30-minute television sitcom "SHOE DOGS".

Producing

In 2002 Harrison executive produced Mark Christensen's debut feature film '' Box Head Revolution''. In 2006 Harrison executive produced Ben Rodkin's debut feature film ''Big Heart City'' starring

Seymour Cassel Seymour Joseph Cassel (January 22, 1935 – April 7, 2019) was an American actor who appeared in over 200 films and television shows, with a career spanning over 50 years. He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent f ...

and Shawn Andrews.

Short films

Harrison has continued to direct short films. His S8mm short ''The Bystander From Hell

screened at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival. His S8mm short film ''Puke'' screened at the 1999 New York Underground Film Festival. His 16mm short film ''Wrist'' screened at the 2000 New York Underground Film Festival and the Bronwyn Keenan Gallery. His short ''Hey Vendor'' screened at the 2009

Slamdance Film Festival The Slamdance Film Festival is an annual film festival focused on emerging artists. The annual week-long festival is held in Los Angeles in late February and is the main event organized by the year-round Slamdance organization. The organization ...

Music videos

Harrison has directed music videos for Lee Curreri, Travis Rush, Evan Clayburn's band Anse

and the Norwegian band Alexandria Quartet.

Teaching

Harrison has taught film at CalArts,

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the History of cinema in the United States, motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private fu ...

, West Los Angeles College, Culver City High School and UCLA Extension Writers' Program.

References

External links

*
Film Crash website

Ridge Theater website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrison, Matthew 1959 births Living people People from Greenwich Village People from the Lower East Side Screenwriters from New York (state) American male screenwriters Screenwriting instructors Film directors from New York City Educators from New York City Sundance Film Festival award winners