Matthew A. Cherry
Chicago native, Matthew A. Cherry is a former NFL wide receiver turned filmmaker who played for the Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Carolina Panthers and the Baltimore Ravens. In 2020 his short film, HAIR LOVE earned him Academy Award for Best Animated Short. Notably, he raised over $280K on Kickstarter to make the award-winning short film making it the most funded short film in Kickstarter history. HAIR LOVE was also adapted into a picture book by Kokila/Penguin/Random House and it became a New York Times Bestseller and earned nominations for a Goodreads Choice Award and an NAACP Image Award. To date it has sold over 1.5 million copies worldwide.
In 2020, Matthew was listed as one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business and Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in Media and Entertainment. In addition to previously consulting for MonkeyPaw Productions and executive producing Spike Lee’s highly acclaimed BLACKKKLANSMAN, Matthew has also directed multiple episodes of television, including “Black-ish”, “Saved By The Bell”, “Abbott Elementary”, ”The Wonder Years, Clean Slate” and more.
Additionally, Matthew’s first feature film, THE LAST FALL, was inspired by his own experiences playing in the NFL and starred Lance Gross and Nicole Beharie. It debuted at SXSW and made its television premiere on BET. His second film, 9 RIDES, debuted at SXSW. This ambitious and stylized film was shot for under $20,000 using iPhone technology.
Matthew is also an accomplished music video director, having directed videos for many artists, including Michelle Williams, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg, and Common. At the 2015 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, Matthew took home the Music Video of the Year award for Michelle William’s “Say Yes,” which featured Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland.
He is wrapped up production on his first animated series, the Hair Love spin off, Young Love with Sony Pictures Animation and Max, debuting on September 21st on Max.