Academy Award-Winning Director, Writer, and Producer; Hair Love
Matthew A. Cherry: Biography at a Glance
- Former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry is an Academy Award-winning writer, director, and New York Times Best-Selling author of Hair Love, an animated short and children's book of the same title.
- Hair Love follows the journey of a young African-American father learning to do his daughter's hair for the first time and its 12-episode animated spin-off series, Young Love, follows a family of millennial parents, as they juggle their careers, marriage, parenthood, and social issues.
- In collaboration with Dove, Hair Love has a 4-product children's hair care line available in Target, CVS, and Walmart, and Hair Love ABCs was also released as a baby board book.
- Matthew is an ambassador for the CROWN Act, which stands for “Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair,” is a law that prohibits race-based hair discrimination, which is the denial of employment and educational opportunities because of hair texture or protective hairstyles including braids, locs, twists or bantu knots.
- Having consulted for Jordan Peele's MonkeyPaw Productions and executive produced Spike Lee’s highly acclaimed BlacKkKlansman, Matthew has also directed multiple episodes of television, including Black-ish, Kenan, The Wonder Years, Saved by the Bell, Grand Crew, Bel Air, Swagger and more.
- Matthew's first feature film, The Last Fall, inspired by his own experiences playing in the NFL debuted at SXSW and made its television premiere on BET.
- Matthew is also an accomplished music video director, having directed videos for many artists, including Michelle Williams, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg, and Common.
- Matthew is a sought-after speaker on storytelling, diversity and inclusion, and Black history and culture.
Videos
Biography
Matthew A. Cherry is an award-winning director, writer, and producer. His animated short film, Hair Love, follows the relationship of an African-American father, his daughter, and her hair. It won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Notably, he raised over $280K on Kickstarter to make the award-winning short film. Later, Hair Love was adapted into a picture book for Penguin Random House. Upon its release, it became a New York Times Bestseller and earned nominations for a Goodreads Choice Award and an NAACP Image Award. Matthew was listed as one of Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business and Fortune's 40 Under 40 in Media and Entertainment.
Having consulted for MonkeyPaw and executive produced Spike Lee’s highly acclaimed BlacKkKlansman, Matthew has also directed multiple episodes of television, including the Valentine’s Day episode of ABC’s Black-ish and Mixed-ish and, episodes on The Kings of Napa, Kenan, The Wonder Years, Saved by the Bell, and Grand Crew.
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 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.
