We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Rosenblatt and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Matt, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I grew up in Dallas area, growing up I had incredibly liberal parents as far as what I could watch and take in. My sister showed me IT when I was 5 or 6 and that had a large amount of trauma on me to say the least. From there it opened a door of directors ranging from Wes Craven, Steven Spielberg, and Stanley Kubrick. I think having that ability to take in stuff that explored more mature subject matter at such a young age opened my mind to different perspectives, taboos, and subjects that most kids wouldn’t be allowed to explore. That created a curiosity to create stories and film things on a tape camcorder I had from my father. Horror was always my first love as far as a genre went. I was always fascinated by feeling scared by stories, movies, legends, and true crimes. I don’t think if I had that opportunity to explore and watch things above my age range I would theoretically be somewhere else or doing something else entirely.
Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I make films that explore fear and grief traditionally. Those are the two subjects that interest me the most and that I find most personal to me. I find that my visual language and my desire to be as realistic as possible when it comes to emotions and reactions with actors would be what set me apart from the pack. I would say I’m most proud of so far is my last film Movie Night, it was made on an incredibly tight budget and ended being picked up for distribution for physical media. It was a dream come true for me. It definitely has not been easy to get where I have gotten so far, the rest of the journey will be even harder as things continue to progress. I think it has just been perseverance and my love for what I’m doing. The biggest lesson I’ve taken in is just be patient, it’s easy to want things to happen right away but it doesn’t always work that way. I just want the world to remember my name because it won’t be last time they hear or see it.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
The first spots I’d recommend would be Panther City BBQ, Mike’s Chicken, Turning Point Beer, and Mexican Cactus
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
The first person that would come to my mind is my family in general. My dad introduced to a lot of classic films. Scorsese, Coppola, and Spielberg to name a few, he has always been incredibly encouraging to my being a director. He bought me my first camera and has always been involved in all of films in some way. In many ways he’s probably my number one fan regardless if there is bias in that or not. My mom was tougher to crack, she had always had a hesitation to me getting into an artistic career but I always felt more so challenged by her always wanting to be better than I ever thought I could. Lastly my sister introduced to many of the films that filled my childhood to have influenced my adulthood and my career in general. Mentors I have picked up along the way that I always feel the need to mention are Barton Faulks, Russ Pond, Darren Lynn Bousman, Eli Roth, Brett Simmons, and Thomas P. Vitale to name a few. They have all been incredible mentors that have taught me so much whether it be direct or indirect. I would not be where I am at in the slightest if not for any of them.
Instagram: @Matt_Rosenblatt
Twitter: @Matt_Rosenblatt
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@MattRosenblatt?si=av7eG1RJ-TTfPwQg
Image Credits
Photos taken by Carson Bailie, Tony Casillas, and Dylan Nguyen