Matthew Miller (filmmaker)

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.[1][2][3]

Matthew Miller
Miller in 2023
NationalityCanadian
EducationYork University
Occupation(s)Screenwriter, producer, lecturer
Years active2003–present
Notable work

Miller achieved widespread acclaim for the feature film BlackBerry (2023), co-written with Matt Johnson, which premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival.[2][4][5]

Career

2003–2009: Early work

Miller's short film The School played at 25 international film festivals, was named Best Canadian Short Film at the Atlantic Film Festival, and received Gold Plaque at the Chicago International Film Festival. Produced as an undergraduate project at York University, Miller worked with a fellow, Ezra Krybus on the film.[6][3][7][8]

In 2007, Miller released his first feature film, Surviving Crooked Lake, which later won the 2008 Kodak Vision Award for Cinematography at the Sundance Film Festival.[9][10]

Johnson, and others, wrote and produced the low-budget web series Nirvana the Band the Show from 2007 to 2009. This is the first time Miller works with Matt Johnson, who he goes on to work closely with on other endeavors.[11][12][13][4]

2013–2018: Johnson Collaboration and Zaprunder Films

In 2013, Miller produced The Dirties, feature film written and directed by Johnson, which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival.[14][15][16][1][17][18][19]

The same year, Miller and Johnson, started a production company, Zaprunder Films. Three year later, in 2016, the production house released the pair's first project, Operation Avalanche. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, after Zaprunder Films declined the premiere offer from the Toronto International Film Festival.[20][21][22]

Miller was still active at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival with the re-launch of Nirvanna the Band the Show when three episodes premiered at the festival, with Miller credited as a writer. The full television series was released on Viceland in 2017. Johnson has announced a movie project based on the series currently being shot in Italy and Toronto in June 2023. Miller has yet to confirm any participation.[23][24][25]

2023: BlackBerry

In 2022, Miller wrote the screenplay for BlackBerry with Johnson, about the Canadian tech company formerly called Research in Motion.[26] The film stars Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis, and co-writer and director Matt Johnson as Doug Fregin.[27] BlackBerry premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2023,[2] and attracted widespread critical acclaim.[28]

Miller signed with CAA, alongside production partner Johnson, in 2023.[4]

Diversity work

In 2013, during festival screenings of Operation Avalanche, Miller noted an evident gender imbalance in the film industry he wanted to change that.[29]

Later that year, Miller's production company Zapruder Films (which he co-founded with Johnson), launched a contest to back a first-time female screenwriter with $12,000 CAD in funding, story editor guidance, and script optioning. The company used 100% of its Telefilm financial award to support the project. Chandler Levack and her feature film Anglophone were announced as the winners of 137 entries. Today, Levack is an award-winning film writer continuing to work in film and journalism with her next project, directing Anglophone slated for production in the coming months [30][31][32][33][34][35][36]

References
  1. "The Dirties (2013) - 10th Anniversary Screening". Calgary Underground Film. 2023-04-23. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  2. "BlackBerry". Berlin International Film Festival. Retrieved February 17, 2023.
  3. "York U's Top Young Film Talent Shines at CineSiege". News @ York. 2009-09-28. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  4. Grobar, Matt (2023-05-22). "CAA Signs 'BlackBerry' Filmmakers Matt Johnson And Matthew Miller". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  5. Sandstorm, Alison (2023-02-17). "Film about Waterloo, Ont.'s BlackBerry premieres in Berlin". CTV. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  6. "Toronto festival screens York students' film". YFile. 2003-09-02. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  7. Hernandez, Eugene (2003-09-29). ""The Event" A Big Winner at 23rd Atlantic Film Fest in Canada". IndieWire. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  8. "Short, Not Sweet". PBS. 2004-11-02. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  9. "Matthew Miller – AMPD". ampd.yorku.ca. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  10. "Surviving Crooked Lake". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  11. "Toronto through the eyes of Nirvana The Band The Show's Jay McCarrol and Matt Johnson". blogTO. April 6, 2010. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  12. Diuglas, Nick (2017-02-08). "How to Make a TV Show Backwards with 'Nirvanna the Band'". Vulture. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  13. Slingerland, Colin (2023-05-12). "Matt Johnson's Next Film Will Be Based on 'Nirvanna the Band the Show'". Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  14. Godfrey, Alex (June 2, 2014). "The Dirties director Matt Johnson on fame and high-school shootings". The Guardian. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  15. "The Dirties: A bravura debut for an up-and-coming Canadian filmmaker". The Globe and Mail. October 4, 2013. Retrieved June 26, 2016.
  16. "The Seventh Art: A Cinema Podcast: 030 - The Dirties (Matt Johnson and Matthew Miller) on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  17. "Interview with Matt Johnson, Director of 'The Dirties'". Indiewire. September 5, 2013.
  18. "BLOOD IN THE HALLWAY: AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRTIES DIRECTOR MATT JOHNSON AND PRODUCER EVAN MORGAN". Toronto Film Scene. October 3, 2012.
  19. "MATTHEW JOHNSON Director of THE DIRTIES: Exclusive Sarasota Film Festival Interview". March 30, 2013.
  20. "Why Matt Johnson is taking Operation Avalanche to Sundance instead of TIFF". Now. January 21, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  21. "How Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson boldly infiltrated NASA". The Globe and Mail. December 31, 2015. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  22. "How Operation Avalanche director Matt Johnson boldly infiltrated NASA". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  23. "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.
  24. "TIFF 2016 announces its Canadian lineup, including films from Xavier Dolan, Deepa Mehta, Bruce McDonald". National Post. August 3, 2016. Retrieved August 12, 2016.
  25. "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.
  26. Manori Ravindran, "BlackBerry’: Story of Doomed Smartphone Company Casts Jay Baruchel & Glenn Howerton, XYZ Films Boards Sales for TIFF". Variety, August 23, 2022.
  27. Barry Hertz, "BlackBerry: Canadian film starring Jay Baruchel to chronicle rise and fall of Research In Motion". The Globe and Mail, August 23, 2022.
  28. "BlackBerry". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  29. Collins, Leah (2016-09-07). "Fed up with the industry's 'insane' gender problem, these filmmakers are giving their funding to women". Canadian Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  30. "Winner Selected from 137 Entries". Zapruder Films. 2016. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  31. Reid, Regan (2016-10-04). "Zapruder Films selects Women First screenwriting winner". Playback Online.
  32. Nickerson, Cara (2023-03-28). "She worked at Blockbuster as a teen. Now this Burlington woman is releasing her debut film". Canadian Broadcasting Company. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  33. "Chandler Levack". CBC Arts. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  34. Reid, Regan (2017-04-13). "On the Slate: Zapruder Films". Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  35. Pecar, Steve (2023-06-06). "After successful debut, Burlington filmmaker prepares for next movie". In Halton. Retrieved 2023-06-26.
  36. Levack, Chandler (2022-08-31). "TIFF 2022: When a Globe and Mail film critic goes on the other side of the camera". The Globe and Mail.
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