Matt Brady
April Filmmaker of the Month
Matthew Brady is a 2 time Emmy winning director/producer based in Los Angeles. He started his production company, MRB Productions , in 2001 which is known for television, commercials, features, documentaries & award shows.
Brady’s most recent feature documentary, Escape from Extinction, which was narrated by Helen Mirren, premiered in 2020 at the Breckenridge Film Festival. Before that, he produced All I Wish, with Sharon Stone, Tony Goldwyn & Ellen Burstyn, currently streaming on Netflix. His latest films, all festival darlings, are available on streaming platforms. These include The Night Stalker with Lou Diamond Phillips, The Truth About Emanuel with Jessica Biel, & Grassroots with Jason Biggs. Back to Life: The Torin Yater Wallace story was acquired by both ESPN and Red Bull Media house and is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.
Brady’s commercial repertoire includes a longstanding relationship with ESPN and dozens of digital and streaming pieces for clients like McDonald’s, Pepsi, Mattel, Lays, Foot Locker, Samsung, Nerf, NHL, Smirnoff, WalMart, and University of Phoenix.
Currently, Brady has a script in development with Hallmark Channel slated to be a Christmas 2021 premiere.
Follow Brady on Instagram and Twitter @MRBProductions1 and like his page on Facebook.
Filmmaker Interview
What are the specific qualities that, in your opinion, make a film great?
A great film keeps you thinking and talking about it afterwards.
What films have been the most inspiring or influential to you and why?
I have always loved documentaries that are inspiring.
The way a great filmmaker can take a topic you may have little to no interest in, and then entice you is magical.
What’s harder? Getting started or being able to keep going? And what drives you to continue making films?
I think keeping a career going is harder than starting out. When I was starting out, it was about what job I could get in any aspect of the film industry, so I could learn. I worked as an assistant to a movie star, to a news show, a PR exec, a soap opera and on movie sets. Each of these gave me some insight into what I did and did not want to do. Now, your latest film is your calling card for the next few years. IF it’s not good, no one calls! You want to make sure you pick something that you will be very proud of, and making the right decision is very hard. Too many flops in a row and your career can get on the wrong path. It’s for this reason that I work concurrently on features, commercials and television. That way if one area isn’t thriving, the other two areas can prop me up.
How do you know when your story’s finished, when to walk away?
I will stop making films when the difficulty outweighs the joy. There is this constant struggle with not having enough money to get your vision on film, and the sacrifices you have to make to come in on time and on budget. Sometimes it feels like the whole world is against you in making a film, and that can take away all the joy.
How many films have you completed? What is your favorite project you have worked on and why?
I’ve done over a dozen films but the film I am most proud of is my most recent. The documentary ‘Escape from Extinction’ started with a small idea and grew into this amazing film that managed to open in 100 theaters during a pandemic. All of my other projects came to me as a script or a fully fleshed out idea. ‘Escape’ began as a paragraph and the amazing team involved molded the story from scratch.
Where do you get your inspiration from?
I’ve always wanted to make a difference in the world, and films are a platform to do this. If one animal is saved, if one aluminum can is recycled, if one parent and child have a conversation about life because of one of my films, then I am a success. This is a better measure of triumph to me than any award or accolades.
‘Escape from Extinction’ is not only about educating people on how to save animals and protecting the natural habitat, but also the world we live in and how misinformation rules. The ideas we deconstruct in this film are applicable to so much more than animals. The film’s most important theme is the concept of interconnectivity in the ecosystem.
What is your favorite aspect of film production?
Seeing your film on the screen for the first time. So many films don’t make it to this step, If you can make it this far, that is a triumph that should be celebrated.
Why did you choose to submit to the Breckenridge Film Festival? What do you look for in a festival where you hope to show your film?
No community understands that better than the mountain town of Breckenridge. City dwellers sometimes forget how important nature is, but mountain towns that depend on nature for their economy, realize the need to celebrate and protect the human animal bond. If there is too much global warming, the mountains won’t have snow anymore and Breckenridge’s economy would be devastated. Breckenridge understands this concept and this is why we chose to premiere at Breck.
You are a collaborator. Did you make any connections at the Breckenridge Film Festival that have led to collaborations with other filmmakers?
I was lucky enough to be on a panel with the president of the Colorado Film Office at Breck. When our film finally released in theaters he was able to post about the film on the Colorado Film social media platforms. These connections made at film festivals are invaluable in all aspects of filmmaking, but especially distribution challenges, which usually immediately follow film festival screenings. Sharing struggles with other filmmakers puts us all on an equal playing field. No one in this business has it easy, each film has its challenges. That shared struggle gives me a shot of adrenalin and gives me inspiration to do better work.