Matthew Gerard Maiellaro (born August 17, 1966) is an American filmmaker, musician and voice actor. He is the co-creator and writer of the

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

animated

Adult Swim Adult Swim (AS; stylized as

dult swim Dult is a village in Batala in Gurdaspur district of Punjab State, India. It is located from sub district headquarter, from district headquarter and from Sri Hargobindpur. The village is administrated by Sarpanch an elected representati ...

and often abbreviated as s is an American adult-oriented night-time cable television Television channel, channel that shares channel space with the basic cable network Cartoon Network and is programme ...

shows, ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' (also known by various alternative titles), sometimes abbreviated as ''ATHF'' or ''Aqua Teen'', is an American adult animated television series created by Dave Willis and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late ni ...

'' and ''

Perfect Hair Forever ''Perfect Hair Forever'' is an American adult animated television series created by Mike Lazzo, Matt Harrigan, and Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late night programming block Adult Swim. The series revolves around a young boy named Gerald ...

'', and the creator of ''

12 oz. Mouse ''12 oz. Mouse'' is an American adult animated television series created by Matt Maiellaro for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. The series revolves around Mouse Fitzgerald, nicknamed "Fitz" (voiced by Maiellaro), an alc ...

''. Prior to his work on ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', Maiellaro was a producer and writer for ''

Space Ghost Coast to Coast ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' is an American adult animation, adult animated comedy talk show created by Mike Lazzo for Cartoon Network and hosted by a re-imagined version of the 1960s Hanna-Barbera cartoon character Space Ghost. In contrast t ...

'' since the show's inception in 1994. Maiellaro met friend and future writing partner,

Dave Willis Dave Willis (born May 1, 1970) is an American voice actor, writer, animator, producer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'' and '' Squidbillies'', the former of which he ...

, when he came on as a staff writer in 1995. The two have since made a few short independent films together, most notably the live-action short ''A Day Off'', which follows a Michael Myers puppet and documents what he does on his day off from murder. In 2000, Maiellaro and Willis created a spin-off from ''Space Ghost Coast to Coast'' – ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''. Seven years later, Maiellaro and Willis released a full-length ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force''

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

on April 13, 2007. His writing is characterized by

surreal humour Surreal humour (also called surreal comedy, absurdist humour, or absurdist comedy) is a form of humour predicated on deliberate violations of causal reasoning, thus producing events and behaviours that are obviously illogical. Portrayals of surrea ...

and at times, a total disregard for traditional forms of storytelling.

Early life and education

He is a native of

Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...

, and a graduate of

Pensacola Catholic High School Pensacola Catholic High School is a private, Roman Catholic, co-educational high school in Pensacola, Florida, United States. It was established in 1941 and is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. History Pensacola ...

Career

One of Maiellaro's earliest jobs was answering viewer mail for TBS in the late 1980s, where he met future Adult Swim executive

Mike Lazzo Michael Lazzo (born April 10, 1958) is a retired American television producer and the former executive (management), executive vice president in charge of the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network, and its production arm, Williams Street ...

(who was a program administrator for TBS at the time). Soon after, Maiellaro worked as a production assistant and

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

on full-length feature horror films in the early 1990s, such as ''

Darkman ''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. Based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s, the film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who is br ...

'', '' Basket Case 3: The Progeny'', '' Children of the Corn II'' and '' Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth''. Some non-horror films he worked on were ''

Kleptomania Kleptomania is the inability to resist the urge to steal items, usually for reasons other than personal use or financial gain. First described in 1816, kleptomania is classified in psychiatry as an impulse control disorder. Some of the main cha ...

'', '' Ring of Steel'', ''Mr. McCallister's Cigarette Holder'' and ''

Ruby in Paradise ''Ruby in Paradise'' is a 1993 film written and directed by Victor Nunez, starring Ashley Judd, Todd Field, Bentley Mitchum, Allison Dean, and Dorothy Lyman. An homage to ''Northanger Abbey'' by Jane Austen, the film is a character study about a y ...

''.

Voice work

Maiellaro provides the voice of Err the Mooninite, the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past From the Future, and other various roles on ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', as well as various characters for the other Adult Swim shows he's involved with. When voice acting on ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', he is sometimes credited as "The Amazing Voice of Matt Maiellaro". Maiellaro also provided the voice for Mouse Fitzgerald, the main protagonist in his series ''

''. Most of the time, his voice is modified through

Autotune Auto-Tune (or autotune) is an audio processor introduced in 1996 by American company Antares Audio Technologies. Auto-Tune uses a proprietary device to measure and alter pitch in vocal and instrumental music recording and performances. Auto-Tu ...

. In 2006, Maiellaro had a cameo as a cricket in the English dub of the anime; ''

Ergo Proxy ''Ergo Proxy'' is a Japanese cyberpunk anime television series, produced by Manglobe, directed by Shūkō Murase and written by Dai Satō. The series ran for 23 episodes from February to August 2006 on the Wowow satellite network. It is set i ...

''. In 2007, after the release of the ''

Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters'' (also known as ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Movie Film for Theaters'') is a 2007 American adult animated surreal black comedy film based on the Adult Swim animated series ''Aqua Teen Hunger F ...

'', there was a fiasco between his company, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

and Boston Mayor

Thomas Menino Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...

regarding the Boston Mooninite which caused panic in Boston due to their LED placard designs which made

Boston Police Department The Boston Police Department (BPD), dating back to 1854, holds the primary responsibility for law enforcement and investigation within the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest municipal police department in the United States. The ...

believe that they were bombs. Despite paying $2 million dollars for all the trouble, Matt Maiellaro and his team decided to create and then leak the "Boston" episode into the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

because it was taken off the air by

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, Car ...

and

Turner Broadcasting System Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (alternatively known as Turner Entertainment Networks from 2019 until 2022) was an American television and media conglomerate. Founded by Ted Turner and based in Atlanta, Georgia, it merged with Time Warner (lat ...

executives. In 2011, Maiellaro was making ''Aqua Unit Patrol Squad 1'' which was running into its 12th season, with season 13 being announced by him that year. The same year, he also announced that he is working on the ''Mad Libs'' movie with

Appian Way Productions Appian Way Productions is a Los Angeles based film and television production company founded in 2001 by actor and producer Leonardo DiCaprio. Jennifer Davisson serves as President of Production. Since its launch, Appian Way has released a diver ...

Music

Around 1999, Maiellaro and longtime friend Barry Mills formed the rock band Donnell Hubbard, whose music was later used in a few episodes of ''

Sealab 2021 ''Sealab 2021'' is an American adult animated television series created by Adam Reed and Matt Thompson for Cartoon Network's late-night programming block, Adult Swim. Cartoon Network aired the show's first three episodes in December 2000 before t ...

'' (notably the song "Fishin' Hole"). In the opening credits of ''Aqua Teen Hunger Force'', graffiti can be seen that reads "Donnell Hubbard is a dead man". Maiellaro also wrote the ''

Squidbillies ''Squidbillies'' is an American animated television series created by Jim Fortier and Dave Willis for Cartoon Network's late night programming block, Adult Swim. An unofficial pilot for the series aired on April 1, 2005. The series later made ...

'' theme song, "Warrior Man". Mouse Fitzgerald, the protagonist from ''

'' can be seen playing metal guitar in several episodes, with Maiellaro providing the actual guitar riffs himself. A caricature of Maiellaro (voiced by Maiellaro) depicted as a Chinese food delivery boy holding an electric guitar appeared in the ''

'' episode "Spacegate World". In the DVD special feature, "How To Score Big Writing For Television", he is shown with a red

Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuously ...

-type guitar, a Steinberger electric guitar, and a goldtop

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

. He has also been featured in Adult Swim promotional materials playing an

Epiphone Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...

EDS-1275.

Other work

Maiellaro directed the animated music video for

Year Long Disaster Year Long Disaster was an American rock band from Los Angeles. Formed in 2004, the band was composed of vocalist and guitarist Daniel Davies, bassist Rich Mullins and drummer Brad Hargreaves. Hargreaves was later replaced by Rob Oswald, and gu ...

's 2008 single "Leda Atomica", and has performed live with the band in Atlanta, Georgia. In 2012, Maiellaro wrote and released his first

graphic novel A graphic novel is a long-form, fictional work of sequential art. The term ''graphic novel'' is often applied broadly, including fiction, non-fiction, and anthologized work, though this practice is highly contested by comic scholars and industry ...

entitled ''Knowbodys'', which centers around a family whose seemingly mundane life isn't all it that seems because the parents have the power to police the supernatural world (i.e. werewolves and poltergeists). This is one of Maiellaro's few projects that uses a traditional, non-absurd structure of writing. In 2022, a new film from Maiellaro entitled ''Pastacolypse'' was reported to be in the works at

Bento Box Entertainment Bento Box Entertainment (also known as Bento Box Animation) is an American animation studio located in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 2009 by executive producers Scott Greenberg, Joel Kuwahara, and M ...

and would stream exclusively on

Tubi Tubi is an American over-the-top content platform and ad-supported streaming service owned by Fox Corporation. The service was launched on April 1, 2014, and is based in Los Angeles, California. In January 2021, Tubi reached 33 million monthly ...

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maiellaro, Matt 1966 births Living people American television writers American male television writers American male video game actors American male voice actors American rock guitarists Showrunners 20th-century American guitarists People from Pensacola, Florida