Matthew A. Cherry

Matthew A. Cherry personally raised over $280K on Kickstarter to make the award-winning short film, Hair Love, which was adapted into a picture book for Penguin Random House. When it was released in May 2019, the book immediately became a New York Times Bestseller, and was nominated for the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Picture Book. Hair Love won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2020.

 

Matthew consulted for MonkeyPaw and executive produced Spike Lee’s highly acclaimed BlacKkKlansman, as well as directed multiple episodes for television, including the Valentine’s Day episode of ABC’s “Black-ish” and “Mixed-ish."

 

Additionally, Matthew’s first feature film, The Last Fall, was inspired by his own experiences playing in the NFL. 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 worked with artists including Michelle Williams, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg, and Common.