Matthew is the founder of the New York-based production company, Our Time Projects, but that's just a small fraction of his story. Sundance Film Festival has named him "one of the most talented and exciting documentary filmmakers working today," and for good reason. Matthew is the creator and filmmaker behind documentary films Cartel Land and City of Ghosts, both of which are centered in some incredibly dangerous and unruly areas of the world. He currently directs and produces Showtime docu-series, The Trade, and directed his first narrative film in 2018 called A Private War. His work has landed him an Emmy Award, multiple Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations, and one of only two directors to ever be nominated for a Director's Guild of America Award in both documentary and narrative filmmaking.
Kelsey and Matthew discuss when he decided to pursue filmmaking (2:00), the challenges he's overcome in his career (3:43), why he decided to create a narrative film after multiple successes in documentary filmmaking (5:44), adjusting to a narrative film set (7:35), his ability to gain the trust of his controversial subjects (10:55), his proudest moment (14:33) and a teaser for his next film (15:29).