Matt Singer
Encyclopedia
Matt Singer is an American film critic and on-air host of the Independent Film Channel
News (IFC) and the former co-host of the IFC News Podcast. His work has also appeared in print in The Village Voice
and Spin Magazine, and on television on MTV
, Fuse
and Ebert Presents At the Movies
.
from 1998 until 2002 where he was heavily involved in University Union, Cinema Board, and WERW. In addition, he formed the band, Melish (named after Woody Allen
's character in Bananas, though ironically spelled incorrectly).
While at Syracuse, he spent a summer interning at Troma. During his tenure, fellow colleagues at Troma inserted his name and a joke "role" into film credits for a few films released at that time.
at Syracuse University
and his M.A. in Cinema Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts
at New York University
. At Syracuse, he was instructed and influenced by prominent film critics and authors such as J.Hoberman and Douglas Brode.
is part of Rainbow Media
and reaches over 62 million viewing subscribers. He has hosted and written half hour news specials and short new segments covering the Sundance Film Festival
, the Tribeca Film Festival
, the Toronto International Film Festival
, South by Southwest
, Comic-Con
, and the Independent Spirit Awards
. He has interviewed dozens of film directors and actors including Francis Ford Coppola
, Sam Raimi
, Danny Boyle
, Michel Gondry
, Judd Apatow
, Michael Moore
, Tim Burton
, Julian Schnabel
, Richard Kelly
, David Mamet
, Brad Pitt
, George Clooney
, James Franco
, Jack Black
, Denzel Washington
, Jodie Foster
, Don Cheadle
, Jerry Seinfeld
, Nicolas Cage
, Jennifer Aniston
, Jude Law
, Seth Rogen
, Felicity Huffman
, Zach Braff
, Lucy Liu
, Sarah Silverman
, and Sir Ben Kingsley. He also writes regularly for the IFC website which received a Webby award in 2009 and is the co-host of the IFC News podcast which was named one of the Top Ten podcasts about film by MovieMaker Magazine in May 2010.
In 2011, he was named as a contributor to Ebert Presents At the Movies
airing on PBS stations nationwide. During the 2008-2009 television season, he was featured numerous times on the “Critics Round-Up” segment on At the Movies
. As part of IFC’s airing of “Trapped in the Closet”: The Complete Saga in 2007, he did an exclusive series of interviews with R. Kelly on creation of the project. He was featured twice as a guest discussing film on The Sauce (TV Series)
on the Fuse
music network.
.
Independent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
News (IFC) and the former co-host of the IFC News Podcast. His work has also appeared in print in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
and Spin Magazine, and on television on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
, Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
and Ebert Presents At the Movies
Ebert Presents at the Movies
Ebert Presents: At the Movies is a weekly, nationally syndicated movie review television program produced and presented by film critic Roger Ebert and co-produced by his wife, Chaz Ebert...
.
Early history
Growing up in Marlboro, NJ, Singer attended Syracuse UniversitySyracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
from 1998 until 2002 where he was heavily involved in University Union, Cinema Board, and WERW. In addition, he formed the band, Melish (named after Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
's character in Bananas, though ironically spelled incorrectly).
While at Syracuse, he spent a summer interning at Troma. During his tenure, fellow colleagues at Troma inserted his name and a joke "role" into film credits for a few films released at that time.
Education
He completed his B.S. in Television, Radio, and Film at the S. I. Newhouse School of Public CommunicationsS. I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
The S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications is the communications school at Syracuse University. It has programs in print and broadcast journalism; advertising; public relations; and television and film....
at Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
and his M.A. in Cinema Studies at the Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts
Tisch School of the Arts is one of the 15 schools that make up New York University ....
at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. At Syracuse, he was instructed and influenced by prominent film critics and authors such as J.Hoberman and Douglas Brode.
Career
The Independent Film ChannelIndependent Film Channel
The Independent Film Channel is an American cable TV network that airs independent film and related programming. IFC programming includes commercially interrupted feature-length films, original documentaries, shorts, animated series, original series, acquired series, and content exclusively for...
is part of Rainbow Media
Rainbow Media
AMC Networks is an entertainment company in the United States that owns the national cable channels AMC, IFC, WE tv, and Sundance Channel; the regional News 12 Networks, the art house movie theater IFC Center in New York, New York, and the film company IFC Films.The company was originally launched...
and reaches over 62 million viewing subscribers. He has hosted and written half hour news specials and short new segments covering the Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
, the Tribeca Film Festival
Tribeca Film Festival
The Tribeca Film Festival is a film festival founded in 2002 by Jane Rosenthal, Robert De Niro and Craig Hatkoff in a response to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the consequent loss of vitality in the TriBeCa neighborhood in Lower Manhattan.The mission of the festival...
, the Toronto International Film Festival
Toronto International Film Festival
The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...
, South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
, Comic-Con
Comic-Con
Comic-Con, Comic Con or ComiCon may refer to any of the following Comic book conventions, none of them affiliated to any other:*San Diego Comic-Con International, annual fan convention in San Diego held since 1970, also known as Comic-Con or San Diego Comic-Con*Dallas Comic Con, annual fan...
, and the Independent Spirit Awards
Independent Spirit Awards
The Independent Spirit Awards , founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. In 1986, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit...
. He has interviewed dozens of film directors and actors including Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. He is widely acclaimed as one of Hollywood's most innovative and influential film directors...
, Sam Raimi
Sam Raimi
Samuel Marshall "Sam" Raimi is an American film director, producer, actor and writer. He is best known for directing cult horror films like the Evil Dead series, Darkman and Drag Me to Hell, as well as the blockbuster Spider-Man films and the producer of the successful TV series Hercules: The...
, Danny Boyle
Danny Boyle
Daniel "Danny" Boyle is an English filmmaker and producer. He is best known for his work on films such as Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, 28 Days Later, Sunshine and Trainspotting. For Slumdog Millionaire, Boyle won numerous awards in 2008, including the Academy Award for Best Director...
, Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry
Michel Gondry is an Academy Award winning filmmaker, whose works include being a commercial director, music video director, and a screenwriter. He is noted for his inventive visual style and manipulation of mise en scène. - Life and career :...
, Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow
Judd Apatow is an American film producer, director, and screenwriter. He is well known for his work in comedy films, especially for films he has been involved with throughout the latter half of the 2000s. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, a film production company that also developed the...
, Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
, Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...
, Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel
Julian Schnabel is an American artist and filmmaker. In the 1980s, Schnabel received international media attention for his "plate paintings"—large-scale paintings set on broken ceramic plates....
, Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly
Richard Kelly or Kelley may refer to:*Richard Kelly , founder of the Tuam Herald newspaper in 1837*Richard Kelly , American film director, known for 2001's Donnie Darko...
, David Mamet
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet is an American playwright, essayist, screenwriter and film director.Best known as a playwright, Mamet won a Pulitzer Prize and received a Tony nomination for Glengarry Glen Ross . He also received a Tony nomination for Speed-the-Plow . As a screenwriter, he received Oscar...
, Brad Pitt
Brad Pitt
William Bradley "Brad" Pitt is an American actor and film producer. Pitt has received two Academy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations, winning one...
, George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
, James Franco
James Franco
James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
, Jack Black
Jack Black
Jack Black , is an American actor and musician, notably of Tenacious D.Jack Black may also refer to:* Jack Black , late 19th - early 20th Century author and hobo* Jack Black , drummer for 1970s UK punk band The Boys...
, Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter, director, and film producer. He first rose to prominence when he joined the cast of the medical drama, St. Elsewhere, playing Dr...
, Jodie Foster
Jodie Foster
Alicia Christian "Jodie" Foster is an American actress, film director, producer as well as a former child actress....
, Don Cheadle
Don Cheadle
Donald Frank "Don" Cheadle, Jr. is an American film actor and producer. Cheadle rose to prominence in the late 1990s and the early 2000s for his supporting roles in the Steven Soderbergh-directed films Out of Sight, Traffic, and Ocean's Eleven...
, Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
, Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
, Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Joanna Aniston is an American actress, film director, and producer, best known for her role as Rachel Green on the television sitcom Friends, a role which earned her an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.Aniston has also enjoyed a successful film career,...
, Jude Law
Jude Law
David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...
, Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen
Seth Rogen is a Canadian stand-up comedian, actor, producer, screenwriter, and voice artist. Rogen began his career doing stand-up comedy during his teen years, winning the Vancouver Amateur Comedy Contest in 1998. While still living in his native Vancouver, he landed a small part in Freaks and...
, Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
, Zach Braff
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel "Zach" Braff is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.In 2004, Braff made his...
, Lucy Liu
Lucy Liu
Lucy Alexis Liu is an American actress and film producer. She became known for playing the role of the vicious and ill-mannered Ling Woo in the television series Ally McBeal , and has also appeared in several Hollywood films including Charlie's Angels, Chicago, Kill Bill, and Kung Fu Panda.-Early...
, Sarah Silverman
Sarah Silverman
Sarah Kate Silverman is a Jewish American comedian, writer, actress, singer and musician. Her satirical comedy addresses social taboos and controversial topics such as racism, sexism, and religion....
, and Sir Ben Kingsley. He also writes regularly for the IFC website which received a Webby award in 2009 and is the co-host of the IFC News podcast which was named one of the Top Ten podcasts about film by MovieMaker Magazine in May 2010.
In 2011, he was named as a contributor to Ebert Presents At the Movies
Ebert Presents at the Movies
Ebert Presents: At the Movies is a weekly, nationally syndicated movie review television program produced and presented by film critic Roger Ebert and co-produced by his wife, Chaz Ebert...
airing on PBS stations nationwide. During the 2008-2009 television season, he was featured numerous times on the “Critics Round-Up” segment on At the Movies
At the Movies
At the Movies is an Australian television program on ABC1 hosted by film critics Margaret Pomeranz and David Stratton, in which they discuss the films opening in theatres that week.-History:...
. As part of IFC’s airing of “Trapped in the Closet”: The Complete Saga in 2007, he did an exclusive series of interviews with R. Kelly on creation of the project. He was featured twice as a guest discussing film on The Sauce (TV Series)
The Sauce (TV series)
The Sauce is a daily live interactive show that aired on the music network Fuse. It was hosted by Steve Smith and Jared Cotter and aired weekdays at 6PM EST/3PM PST and premiered on April 2, 2007 and ended on May 22, 2008....
on the Fuse
Fuse TV
Fuse is an American national television network dedicated exclusively to music. It features original series and specials, exclusive interviews, live concerts and video blocks....
music network.
Personal
He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, a dog named Kirby, and a sword that was used in the movie GymkataGymkata
Gymkata is a 1985 martial arts film starring Olympic gymnast Kurt Thomas as Jonathan Cabot, an Olympic gymnast who combines his gymnastic ability with ninjutsu to enter a deadly competition in a fictional country, Parmistan...
.