Matthew A. Cherry facts for kids

Matthew A. Cherry, born on December 14, 1981, is an American film director, writer, and producer. He used to be a professional American football player. He is famous for writing and directing the animated short film Hair Love, which won an Academy Award in 2020. The Hair Love project raised almost $300,000 on Kickstarter, setting a record for short films on the platform.

Early Life and College Football

Matthew Cherry grew up in Chicago, Illinois. He graduated from Loyola Academy in 1999. He then went to the University of Akron, where he studied media.

While at the University of Akron, Cherry played college football for four seasons with the Akron Zips. He was a wide receiver and earned special recognition as a second-team All-Mid-American Conference player in 2003. He finished his college career as the leading receiver in his school's history.

Professional Football Journey

After college, Cherry signed with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2004. He also played for the Cincinnati Bengals briefly. In 2005, he tried out for the Ottawa Renegades in the Canadian Football League.

In 2006, Cherry joined the Carolina Panthers and played for the Hamburg Sea Devils in NFL Europe. He later signed with the Baltimore Ravens. After facing injuries, he decided to retire from football in 2007 to follow his dream of working in film.

Film Career Highlights

Starting in Film

After leaving football, Matthew Cherry began his film career. He started as a production assistant and then moved on to directing music videos. One notable video he directed was "Say Yes" for singer Michelle Williams.

In 2012, Cherry wrote and directed his first film, The Last Fall. This movie was shown at the SXSW festival. It won an award for Best Screenplay at the American Black Film Festival.

His second film, 9 Rides, came out in 2016. What's special about this movie is that it was filmed entirely using an iPhone 6s. It also premiered at SXSW and received good reviews for its storytelling.

The Success of Hair Love

In 2017, Matthew Cherry started a Kickstarter campaign to fund an animated short film called Hair Love. The project quickly became very popular, raising nearly $300,000. This was much more than his original goal of $75,000.

Cherry co-directed Hair Love with Everett Downing and Bruce W. Smith. The film was released in theaters in 2019 alongside The Angry Birds Movie 2. In 2020, Hair Love won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Cherry accepted the award, sharing the moment with producer Karen Rupert Toliver.

After this success, Cherry became a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2020.

Television Work and Future Projects

Matthew Cherry has also worked on many television shows. In June 2020, he signed a deal with Warner Bros. Television.

Later in 2020, HBO Max ordered a 12-episode animated series called Young Love. This series is based on his short film Hair Love.

Cherry has several exciting projects in the works. He is developing a heist comedy movie called The Come Up for New Line Cinema. He is also working on an animated project for Sony Pictures Animation titled Tut. In 2021, he directed the pilot episode for The Kings of Napa on the OWN. In 2022, it was announced that he would direct Redd Zone, a football drama movie for Netflix, starring Jada Pinkett Smith.

Filmography

Film

Executive producer

• BlacKkKlansman (2018)

Production consultant

• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)

Television

Director

Co-producer

• The Last O.G. (2019) (Episode "Sound of Da Police")