Dave LaMattina (born 31 May 1980), is an American filmmaker.[1] He is best known as the director of documentaries Brownstones to Red Dirt, We Must Go and I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story.[2]

Dave LaMattina
Born
Dave LaMattina

(1980-05-31) May 31, 1980 (age 44)
Occupation(s)Director, producer, writer
Years active2008–present

Personal life

edit

He was born on 31 May 1980 in New York City, United States.

Career

edit

Before directing documentaries, he started to work as a production manager for the blockbuster films Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Epic and Rio. Then in 2008, he became the writer of the short film Moonrock & Lighter Fluid. In 2009, he became the director assistant for the film Horton Hears a Who!. In 2010, he made his directorial debut with the documentary Brownstones to Red Dirt. The film revolves around some children in Brooklyn become pen pals with orphans from Sierra Leone. After the success of the documentary, he made his second documentary Kei.

Then in 2014, he made I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story along with Chad N. Walker.[3] The film has received generally favorable reviews.[4][5] In 2014, he won the Audience Choice Award for the Best Documentary at Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival for the film.[6]

He graduated with a degree in communications from Boston College. Later he received a grant from the Jacques Salmanowitz Program for Moral Courage in Documentary Film. With the initiative Jacques Salmanowitz Program, LaMattina direct and produce a documentary about child AIDS activist Nkosi Johnson, which became his directorial debut. Meanwhile, he earned his MFA from the University of Southern California's School of Cinema-Television.[7]

After the graduation, he spent time writing and working in development with Hollywood studios. In 2007, he co-founded the documentary film production house, 'Copper Pot Pictures' accompany with Chad N. Walker and Clay Frost.[7]

Filmography

edit
Year Film Role Genre Ref.
2008 Moonrock & Lighter Fluid Writer Short film
2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Additional production support Film
2009 Horton Hears a Who! Director assistant Film
2010 Brownstones to Red Dirt Director, producer, writer Documentary
2011 Rio Additional production manager, script coordinator Film
2012 Kei Director, producer, writer Documentary short
2013 Epic Production coordinator Film
2014 I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story Director, producer, writer Documentary
2014 We Must Go Director, producer, writer Documentary
2017–19 The Zoo Executive producer TV series
2019 The Zoo: San Diego Executive producer TV series
2019 The Deported Executive producer Documentary
2019 La Gran Madre Director, producer, writer Documentary
2019 Aunty Director, producer, writer Short film

References

edit
  1. ^ "FILMS DIRECTED BY Dave LaMattina". letterboxd. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. ^ "Dave LaMattina: DIRECTOR, PRODUCER, SCREENWRITER". MUBI. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  3. ^ "Dave LaMattina and Chad Walker on I AM BIG BIRD: THE CAROLL SPINNEY STORY". screenwritingmagazine. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  4. ^ "I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story". Metacritic. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  5. ^ "I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story (2015)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved October 6, 2015.
  6. ^ "Cinéfest Sudbury hands out hardware". Northern Life. Laurentian Media Group. September 24, 2014. Retrieved October 30, 2014.
  7. ^ a b "Dave LaMattina". African Filmny. Retrieved 8 November 2020.
edit