Matt Campagna


Matthew "Matt" James Campagna is a director, writer, film editor and new media producer from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is known for his film Six Reasons Why as well as his work on web series BSGcast, Your Geek News, The Naked Wine Show and WHIRtv.

Background

Born and raised in Mississauga, Campagna attended Ryerson's Radio and Television Arts program for 4 years, majoring in Digital Film and Interactive Television. Before pursuing film and new media, he worked at Toronto radio and television stations CKFM-FM and Toronto1 as a producer.

Career

Film

Campagna's first internationally distributed film was the post-apocalyptic western Six Reasons Why where he co-wrote, co-directed, co-edited and was the cinematographer on the film. Matt and his brother/co-director/writer/editor Jeff Campagna, shot the final scenes of the film starring Colm Feore in 2007 after Jeff Campagna had made initial contact with the actor by approaching him about the project in an airport. Made for $12,000, the film was sold in a quarter million dollar bidding war to THINKFilm after the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in theatres and on DVD in August 2008. The Campagna Brothers' follow-up film is to be another western, entitled "Roll the Hard Six".
Campagna directed the short film D.N.E. Do Not Erase in 2011 with music by The Walking Dead's Bear McCreary and starring Battlestar Galactica's Richard Hatch. The script was written by Nar Williams and Rudy Jahchan. The film won Best Sci-Fi at the 2012 DragonCon film festival, and was official selection at its Toronto premiere at the Toronto After Dark Film Festival
In 2014, Campagna was the writer and associate producer of the Kim Coates, Ashanti, Amber Marshall and Holly Deveaux starring feature film Mutant World, airing on NBC/Universal's SyFy network in the USA. With international rights held by Sony, Mutant World airs in Canada on Superchannel in January 2015.
Campagna also directed the thriller Hunter's Moon in 2014, a script he co-wrote with Rudy Jahchan. The film stars Orphan Black's Ari Millen, Marco Timpano, Katie Boland, Melissa D'Agostino, Art Hindle and marks his second feature with both Holly Deveaux and Colm Feore

Internet Television

In 2005, Campagna began his online work shooting and directing WHIRtv and the online video content for the Web Host Industry Review. In 2006, he began directing the weekly online cultural news show YourGreekNews which has gone on to become a show on ethnic specialty television channel MEGA Cosmos. In 2007, he launched BSGcast and Your Geek News as co-host and director, and guest directed an episode of web series Galacticast. In 2008 he began directing The Naked Wine Show.
In 2019, Campagna co-launched Highball.TV, a Film Festival cinema streaming site, beginning with a collection of 30 titles, including the film adaptation of The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey. The site is a media-services provider functioning as a transactional video on demand service as well as a subscription service.

Film Festival Director

In July 2008 the Campagna Bros. hosted the first annual Mississauga Independent Film Festival showcasing Canadian Independent short films, documentaries and feature films. In the first year, winning films included Matt Bissonnette's Who Loves the Sun for Best Feature Film. In 2009, Dean Bajramovic won for his feature Gangster Exchange.

Awards

YearAward ShowCategoryWorkResult
2012Toronto After Dark Film FestivalShort FilmD.N.E.: Do Not Eraseofficial selection
2012Dragon*Con Short Film FestivalBest Science FictionD.N.E.: Do Not Erase
2014Calgary International Film FestivalFeature"Mutant World''official selection