Matthew Harrison
Encyclopedia
Matthew Harrison is an American television and film director
, 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
. His first studio feature Kicked in the Head was Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese
and released by Universal Studios
. He directed episodes 111 and 112 of HBO's Sex and the City.
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
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
“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 Boneheadshttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108416/ screened at the Salzburg, Austria Film Festival and was an award winner at the 1990 Long Island Film Festival.
, 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
. Active programming ceased in 1993. The Film Crash name lives on in the form of a production company run by Harrison, Nussbaum and Saunders.
in 1988 and The Manson Family opera at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
in 1990.
was awarded the Prix Tournage at Avignon Film Festival
. 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 Martin Scorsese
, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight
http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/archives/1997/ section of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
and was released theatrically by Universal Studios
.
for Warner Brothers.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328905/. In 2006 Harrison Executive Produced Ben Rodkin’s debut feature film Big Heart Cityhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230364/ starring Seymour Cassel
and Shawn Andrews
.
. 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
.
, Travis Rush
, Evan Clayburn’s band Ansel http://anselmusic.com/ and the Norwegian band Alexandria Quartet http://www.myspace.com/thealexandriaquartet.
and UCLA Extension https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/default.aspx.
Ridge Theater website
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, 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
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
. His first studio feature Kicked in the Head was Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
and released by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. He directed episodes 111 and 112 of HBO's Sex and the City.
Early Films
Harrison attended PS 41 in downtown Manhattan where he began making 8mm8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
films at age nine. During the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s, Harrison made 8mm and S8mm
Super 8 mm film
Super 8 mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement of the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format....
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
Wollensak
Wollensak was an American manufacturer of audio-visual products. At the height of their popularity in the 1950s and 1960s, many brands of movie cameras came with a Wollensak Velostigmat lens. Wollensak reel-to-reel tape recorders were prized for their robust construction and value.-History:The...
¼"
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording
Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette....
tape recorder at the Ocean Bay Park
Ocean Bay Park, New York
Ocean Bay Park is a hamlet in the Town of Brookhaven in Suffolk County, New York, on Fire Island.The ZIP Code for Ocean Bay Park is 11770. To reach Ocean Bay Park, one must take a ferry or watertaxi from Maple Avenue, Bay Shore on the mainland....
Volunteer Fire Department. He completed his undergraduate studies at Cooper Union
Cooper Union
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art, commonly referred to simply as Cooper Union, is a privately funded college in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States, located at Cooper Square and Astor Place...
school of art in New York City. Harrison's 34 minute S8mm film Apartment Eight
Apartment Eight
Apartment Eight is a 1987 Lower East Side comedy short film by director Matthew Harrison, which won Best Comedy at the 1988 New York Film Festival Downtown and the Mystic Fire Independent Film Award at the 1989 Ann Arbor Film Festival....
won Best Comedy at the 1988 New York Film Festival Downtown
New York Film Festival Downtown
New York Film Festival Downtown was a New York based film festival founded by Tessa Hughes-Freeland and Ela Troyano in 1984.Known for its independent and "positively avante-garde" programming, the festival came to prominence in the East Village art scene. The New York Film Festival Downtown ran for...
, was included in Anthology Film Archives
Anthology Film Archives
__notoc__Anthology Film Archives is a film archive and theater located at 32 Second Avenue on the corner of East Second Street in the East Village neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City devoted to the preservation and exhibition of experimental film. It is the only non-profit organization of its...
“Masters of Super 8” program and received the Mystic Fire Independent Film Award at the 1989 Ann Arbor Film Festival
Ann Arbor Film Festival
The Ann Arbor Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Ann Arbor in the U.S. state of Michigan. Established in 1963, it is the third-oldest film festival in North America ; and the oldest experimental film festival...
. In 1989 his 27 minute 16mm short film Two Boneheadshttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108416/ 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 floating film screening series in the East Village, ManhattanEast Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
, adopting the name Film Crash
Film Crash
Film Crash was a New York City based film festival and screening series, programming independent, experimental, low-budget and underground films. The screenings were active from 1985 through 1993...
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
Performance Space 122
Performance Space 122, generally known as P.S. 122, is a not-for-profit arts organization and one of the longest standing venues dedicated to contemporary performance art in New York City. Founded in 1979 in the abandoned Public School 122 building at 150 First Avenue at East 9th Street in the East...
and the Angelika Film Center
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 and Texas. Its headquarters are in New York City.-History:...
. Active programming ceased in 1993. The Film Crash name lives on in the form of a production company run by Harrison, Nussbaum and Saunders.
Films for Theater
During the 80’s and 90’s Harrison was also a contributing member of the experimental theater group Ridge Theaterhttp://www.ridgetheater.org/index.html, producing and directing films for several theater productions including Jack Benny at La MamaLa MaMa Experimental Theatre Club
La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club is an off-off Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, and named in reference to her. Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the theatre grew out of Stewart's tiny basement boutique for her fashion designs; the boutique's space acted as a theatre for...
in 1988 and The Manson Family opera at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood of New York City's Upper West Side. Reynold Levy has been its president since 2002.-History and facilities:...
in 1990.
Feature Films
In 1992 Harrison’s first feature film Spare MeSpare Me (1992 film)
Spare Me is a 1992 "bowling noir" film that, as one film reviewer wrote, "twists conventions of the Western and thriller genres within its parallel universe of bowling monomania." Matthew Harrison's feature film directorial debut, the 16mm feature was made for less than $80,000 US and won awards at...
was awarded the Prix Tournage at Avignon Film Festival
Avignon Film Festival
Avignon Film Festival is also known as the Rencontres Cinématographiques Franco-Américain d'Avignon. The festival used to be called the French/American Film Workshop.The festival took place in Avignon, France every year and was devoted to promoting Film...
. 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
October Films
October Films was an American independent film production company and distributor founded in 1991 by Bingham Ray and Jeff Lipsky as a means of distributing the 1990 film Life Is Sweet...
in 1997. Kicked in the Head was Executive Produced by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
, premiered in the Directors' Fortnight
Directors' Fortnight
Directors' Fortnight is an independent section held in parallel to the Cannes Film Festival. The section was created in 1969 after the events of May 1968, in which the Cannes festival was canceled in solidarity with striking workers....
http://www.quinzaine-realisateurs.com/archives/1997/ section of the 1997 Cannes Film Festival
Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...
and was released theatrically by Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
.
Television
Harrison directed episodes 111 and 112 of the first season of HBO’s Sex and the City. He directed episode 7 of Popular for The WB Television Network and the television show Dead LastDead Last
Dead Last was an American drama-comedy-fantasy television series, produced by Warner Bros. in 2001. It starred Tyler Labine as Scotty Sallback, Kett Turton as Vaughn Parrish, and Sara Downing as Jane Cahill. The series ran for one season with 13 episodes produced but only 8 of them aired...
for Warner Brothers.
Producing
In 2002 Harrison Executive Produced Mark Christensen's debut feature film Box Head RevolutionBox Head Revolution
Box Head Revolution is a 2002 science fiction film directed, produced, edited and co-written by Mark Christensen.-Plot:On an unknown planet in an uncertain time, a two-tiered society has taken shape. The ruling class live above ground and wear masks on their faces, while the working class labors...
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328905/. In 2006 Harrison Executive Produced Ben Rodkin’s debut feature film Big Heart Cityhttp://www.imdb.com/title/tt1230364/ starring Seymour Cassel
Seymour Cassel
Seymour Joseph Cassel is an American actor.He first came to prominence in the 1960s in the pioneering independent films of writer/directorJohn Cassavetes...
and Shawn Andrews
Shawn Andrews (actor)
Shawn Andrews is an actor best known for his appearance in the classic cult film Dazed and Confused, where he plays Kevin Pickford, a high school student whose party is ruined when his parents find out what he was up to....
.
Short Films
Harrison has continued to direct short films. His S8mm short The Bystander From Hellhttp://history.sundance.org/films/1747 screened at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival and the 1998 Toronto International Film Festival1998 Toronto International Film Festival
The 1998 Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 10 to September 19, 1998. A total of 311 films were screened during the ten-day festival, commencing with the opening gala, The Red Violin.-Galas:...
. His S8mm short film Puke screened at the 1999 New York Underground Film Festival
1999 New York Underground Film Festival
These are the films shown at the 6th New York Underground Film Festival, held from March 10–14, 1999-See also:* *...
. His 16mm short film Wrist screened at the 2000 New York Underground Film Festival
2000 New York Underground Film Festival
These are the films shown at the 7th New York Underground Film Festival, held from March 8–14, 2000.-See also:* *...
and the Bronwyn Keenan Gallery
Bronwyn Keenan Gallery
Bronwyn Keenan Gallery was an art gallery located at #3 Crosby Street, in the SoHo district of New York City. Run by New Jersey-born Brownwyn Keenan, the gallery showed emerging artists from the mid to late 1990s and into the early 2000s...
. His short Hey Vendor screened at the 2009 Slamdance Film Festival
Slamdance Film Festival
As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...
.
Music Videos
Harrison has directed music videos for Lee CurreriLee Curreri
Lee Curreri is an American actor and musician. He was born in The Bronx, New York.He played piano with In vitro musical group, and the Iona College Singers....
, Travis Rush
Travis Rush
Travis Benjamin Rush is a country music singer from Oregon.-Biography:Travis Rush was born in Orange, California, where he lived for 9 months and then moved to Gold Beach, Oregon. By the age of 10, Rush was singing in contests and playing the piano for local fans in his home town...
, Evan Clayburn’s band Ansel http://anselmusic.com/ and the Norwegian band Alexandria Quartet http://www.myspace.com/thealexandriaquartet.
Teaching
Harrison has taught film at CalArts, Culver City High SchoolCulver City High School
Culver City High School is the main public high school of the Culver City Unified School District in Culver City, California. It was opened in 1951. The school's colors are primarily blue and silver, and the mascot is the centaur. As of 2008, the enrollment was 2,308...
and UCLA Extension https://www.uclaextension.edu/r/default.aspx.
External Links
Film Crash websiteRidge Theater website