Matthew A. Cherry (born December 14, 1981) is an American film director, writer, producer, and former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

player. He wrote and directed two independent films, ''

The Last Fall ''The Last Fall'' is a 2012 American drama film written and directed by Matthew A. Cherry and starring Lance Gross and Nicole Beharie. It is Cherry's directorial debut. Cast *Lance Gross as Kyle Bishop *Nicole Beharie as Faith Davis *Vanessa Bel ...

'' (2012), and ''

9 Rides ''9 Rides'' is a 2016 American film written and directed by Matthew A. Cherry and starring Dorian Missick, Omar Dorsey and Robinne Lee. Cast *Dorian Missick as Driver *Omar Dorsey as Uber Pool Man *Robinne Lee as Girlfriend Production The film ...

'' (2016). He is best known for the 2019

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

-winning animated short film, ''

Hair Love ''Hair Love'' is a 2019 American animated short film directed by Matthew A. Cherry, Everett Downing Jr., and Bruce W. Smith, and written by Cherry. It follows the story of a man who must do his daughter's hair for the first time, and it features ...

''. The

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign for ''Hair Love'' raised nearly $300,000 and broke the record for the highest amount raised for any short film on the platform.

Early life

Cherry was raised in the Northwest Side neighborhood of

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and graduated from

Loyola Academy Loyola Academy is a private, Catholic, co-educational college preparatory high school run by the USA Midwest Province of the Society of Jesus in Wilmette, Illinois, a northern suburb of Chicago, and in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago ...

in nearby

Wilmette Wilmette is a village in New Trier Township, Cook County, Illinois, United States. Bordering Lake Michigan and Evanston, Illinois, it is located north of Chicago's downtown district. Wilmette had a population of 27,087 at the 2010 census. The ...

in 1999. He attended the

University of Akron The University of Akron is a public research university in Akron, Ohio. It is part of the University System of Ohio. As a STEM-focused institution, it focuses on industries such as polymers, advanced materials, and engineering. It is classified ...

, where he played on the football team and earned a bachelor's degree in media. Cherry played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

for four seasons with the

Akron Zips Akron () is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Summit County. It is located on the western edge of the Glaciated Allegheny Plateau, about south of downtown Cleveland. As of the 2020 Census, the city prop ...

under head coach

Lee Owens Lee Owens (born July 17, 1956) is a former American football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Akron from 1995 to 2003 and Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio from 2004 to 2022, compiled a career college football coa ...

and was a second-team All-

Mid-American Conference The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...

wide receiver. He finished his career as the all-time leading receiver in school history and ended his senior season with records for total receptions, yards, touchdowns, punt return yards and punt return touchdowns.

Professional football career

Cherry signed with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division. The team play ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

following the

2004 NFL Draft The 2004 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 24–25, 2004 at the Theater at ...

. He was waived during final roster cuts on August 29, 2004, and re-signed to the team's

practice squad In sports, the practice squad, also called the taxi squad or practice roster, is a group of players signed by a team but not part of their main roster. Frequently used in gridiron football, they serve as extra players during the team's practices, ...

on September 6. The

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

signed him off of the Jaguars' practice squad to their active roster on December 29, 2004, before the final game of the season. Cherry was waived by the Bengals during final roster cuts on August 29, 2005. He worked out for the

Ottawa Renegades The Ottawa Renegades were a Canadian Football League franchise based in Ottawa, Ontario founded in 2002, six years after the storied Ottawa Rough Riders folded. After four seasons, the Renegades franchise was suspended indefinitely by the league ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

on September 9, 2005, but left the team by September 21 without having played in a game. The Renegades franchise folded shortly after due to financial instability. Cherry signed with the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. T ...

in 2006, and was allocated to the

Hamburg Sea Devils Two American football franchises have been referred to as the Hamburg Sea Devils: * Hamburg Sea Devils (NFL Europe), active in NFL Europe between 2005 and 2007; * Hamburg Sea Devils (ELF) The Hamburg Sea Devils are an American football team in ...

NFL Europe NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally f ...

. He was waived by Hamburg during final roster cuts on March 5, 2006. He returned to the Panthers, but was waived on May 30, 2006. He signed with the

Baltimore Ravens The Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. The Ravens compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. The team plays its ...

on August 3, 2006. He was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on August 30, 2006, and missed the entire season.

Film career

Career beginnings

Cherry retired from football in 2007 to pursue a film career. After initially working as a production assistant he began directing music videos. He directed the video for gospel song "Say Yes" by singer Michelle Williams. Cherry wrote and directed his first film, ''

'', in 2012. The film stars

Lance Gross Lance Darnell Kwaku Gross (born July 8, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Calvin Payne on the TBS sitcom ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne'' and OWN sitcom '' Tyler Perry's The Paynes''., as well as appearing in other Tyl ...

and

Nicole Beharie Nicole Beharie is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in films such as the drama ''American Violet'' (2008), the psychological drama ''Shame (2011 film), Shame'' (2011), the biographical sports drama ''42 (film), 42'' ...

. The film, which premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

, received average critical reviews. Peter Deburge of ''Variety'' described ''The Last Fall'' as a "tepid daytime-TV melodrama." Gary Goldstein wrote in the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', "this is an involving, sympathetic film unafraid to wear its sizable heart on its sleeve." It won Best Screenplay at the

American Black Film Festival The American Black Film Festival (originally called the Acalpulco Black Film Festival) is an independent film festival that focuses primarily on black film—works by Black members of the film industry. It is held to recognize achievements of film ...

. His second film, ''

'', was shot entirely on an iPhone 6s, which may be the first feature film shot using the device. Starring

Dorian Missick Dorian Crossmond Missick is an American actor known for his role as Damian in the television series ''Six Degrees (TV series), Six Degrees'' (2006) and for voicing List of characters in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories#Victor Vance, Victor Van ...

, it premiered at SXSW in 2016. Tom Harrington of

The Daily Dot ''The Daily Dot'' is a digital media company covering the culture of the Internet and the World Wide Web. Founded by Nicholas White in 2011, ''The Daily Dot'' is headquartered in Austin, Texas. The site, conceived as the Internet's "hometown ...

called it "a taut, attractive piece of work." Shannon M. Houston reviewed the film for ''Paste'' and wrote, "''9'' ''Rides'' is proof that Cherry is a storyteller who can do quite a bit with a modest budget (this is the first film shot on an iPhone 6s) and a simple premise."

''Hair Love''

In 2017, Cherry created a Kickstarter campaign for a short animated film called ''Hair Love''. The campaign surpassed its initial goal of $75,000 and raised nearly $300,000. He co-directed the film with Everett Downing and

Bruce W. Smith Bruce Wayne Smith (born September 6, 1961) is an African-American animator, character designer, film director and television producer. He is best known as the creator of Disney Channel's ''The Proud Family'' and '' The Proud Family: Louder and ...

, with

Peter Ramsey Peter A. Ramsey (born December 23, 1962) is an American illustrator, storyboard artist, film director, screenwriter, and film producer. He is best known for directing DreamWorks Animation's ''Rise of the Guardians'' (2012), becoming the first Afr ...

and

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...

animator Frank Abney serving as executive producers. On March 20, 2019,

Sony Pictures Animation Sony Pictures Animation Inc. is an American animation studio owned by Sony Entertainment's Sony Pictures Entertainment through their Motion Picture Group division and founded on May 9, 2002. The studio's films are distributed worldwide by Son ...

announced that they had picked up ''Hair Love'', which was released in theaters alongside ''

The Angry Birds Movie 2 ''The Angry Birds Movie 2'' is a 2019 computer-animated action comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's ''Angry Birds'' video game series, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pic ...

'' on August 14, 2019. The film won the 2020

for

Best Animated Short The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year ...

, with Cherry accepting the award alongside fellow producer Karen Rupert Toliver. In 2020, Cherry became a member of the

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motio ...

. In October 2020, Cherry was revealed to be working on a project for Sony Pictures Animation, titled ''Tut''.

Television

In June 2020, Cherry signed a first-look deal with

Warner Bros. Television Warner Bros. Television Studios (operating under the name Warner Bros. Television; formerly known as Warner Bros. Television Division) is an American television production and distribution studio of the Warner Bros. Television Group division of ...

. On July 7, 2020,

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

, ordered a 12-episode season of ''Young Love'', a 2D animated series from Cherry based on his short film ''Hair Love''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Official websiteMatthew A. Cherry
on IMDB

at Sports-Reference.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Cherry, Matthew A. Living people American football wide receivers Akron Zips football players Jacksonville Jaguars players Cincinnati Bengals players Carolina Panthers players Hamburg Sea Devils players Baltimore Ravens players African-American film directors Screenwriters from Illinois Filmmakers from Illinois University of Akron alumni People from Chicago Directors of Best Animated Short Academy Award winners 1981 births 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people