Matt Amato is an American film writer and director.[1] His major works include music videos for artists such as Barbra Streisand, Beach House, Bon Iver, Dido, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Soko, and Wild Nothing. He also co-founded with Heath Ledger the Los Angeles based visual arts collective, The Masses. Amato is now documenting the efforts of historic preservationist Larry Giles at the National Building Arts Center. Amato directed the "pastoral"[2] music video for legendary country-folk musicians and gay activists, Lavender Country, filming in Olympic National Park. Amato directed his third video for Barbra Streisand released by Columbia Records and received a Gold Telly Award in 2023.[3]
Amato grew up in St. Louis, MO and was educated by the Benedictine monks at St. Louis Priory. He briefly attended film school at Columbia College in Chicago before venturing to California.
Amato began his directing career in the mid-1990s while living in San Francisco. Shooting on 16mm, he created music videos for San Francisco's American Music Club, Red House Painters and Tarnation. Amato’s videos were broadcast on MTV shows such as 120 Minutes and Subterranean. Experimenting with 8mm for the band Tipsy, Amato’s work aired on MTV’s electronic-music based, Amp. Amato continued to make progress at Palm Pictures with a video for Tijuana's Nortec Collective and live visual presentations for Supreme Beings Of Leisure.[4] [5]
Amato sustained his work in music videos by embracing digital film-making.[6] [7] In 2006, Amato established a partnership with his best friend, Heath Ledger.[8] Amato told the Los Angeles Times in 2009,
What Heath brought to us at the Masses was his pure creative energy, chessboards and surfboards.[9]The Masses started developing their own movie projects.[10] During this time, Ledger also developed the screenplay with Amato for what would be Amato's first movie, Never My Love. “I was very well aware of the movies Heath wanted to make, because we shared the same values,” Amato reflects.
We definitely wanted to make movies for smart women. I think he had his daughter in mind, as well. We hated violence in our culture. We’re very against it. We wanted to flip that paradigm and focus on women and love, and chess.[11]Amato was on location in Eau Claire, WI directing Bon Iver’s first video the day Ledger died.[12] “It was no longer about just making a Bon Iver music video anymore,” the group’s singer-songwriter Justin Vernon says. “This was now our chance to be there with Matt as he grieved. It was a three-day wake."[13]
Matt. I could never ever say enough about Matt Amato. He has an indescribable presence; this warm loving serene calm with intense interest and excitement bubbling beneath his exterior. He's some sort of amazing mind reader and balances it with his trust in you and yours in him. Example, that kiss was not planned (at least not to my knowledge) and yet I felt like it was somehow almost our idea together... It was truly such a wonderful experience and so, so fun to be apart of a visual artist's world for a moment. - Madi Diaz singer/songwriter [14]
Amato joined forces with Executive Producer Jack Richardson in what was essentially the Masses 2.0. The Masses functioned as a directors agency representing music video directors in Los Angeles: Ben Fee, Ben Kutsko, Chris Coats, Alistair Legrand, Isaiah Seret, Elliot Sellers, Raúl Fernández, Eli Stonberg, Alex Pelly to name just a few.[15] The Masses also assisted in the creation of OMG! Cameras Everywhere!, a music video making summer camp for young people in Los Angeles, London and NYC.[16] Amato's "gorgeous, incredibly cinematic"[17] videos are known for their intimacy,[18] spontaneity[19] and sense of place[20] often filming on location.[21] Amato says,
It's about connecting with people. I've had some great opportunities to connect in a very personal way with some of the artists I worked with on music videos. There is that sense of nostalgia, even while you're there, on some music videos. I'm thinking particularly of the family I stayed with in Scotland when I did the Withered Hand video. Or working with Justin out in the woods during the Bon Iver video. Those are very powerful memories for me.[22]For Barbra Streisand's Release Me, "While Streisand had recorded the unreleased song in 1970, Amato did not direct the video until 2012. Consequently, he had to jog the memories of the original producer, Richard Perry, about important details of the original recording. Amato reproduced small details such as the original type of microphone preferred by Streisand and the setting of the recording. Amato describes it as “an exercise in verisimilitude.”[23] Amato invited "Kodachrome-drenched journeying"[24] actress Michelle Williams to work with him on a "wistful"[25] and "visually arresting"[26] music video for Wild Nothing's Paradise.[27] [28] Amato "comely grasps the elusive feeling of the song" and captures "Williams’ especially moving and elegant performance that elevates the video to absolute emotional harmony."[29]
Amato signed on as an Executive Producer and creative consultant on the documentary film, I Am Heath Ledger. He traveled to Perth, Australia to work with Ledger's family and to insure it would be a magnanimous sketch of his friend and partner.[30] It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival with a Q+A involving Amato and Ledger's sisters, Ashleigh Bell and Kate Ledger.[31] The "uncommonly tender" documentary is heralded for its sensitivity while reflecting on the actor's artistic nature as told by his most faithful friends and loved ones.[32] "I Am Heath Ledger is a cinematic portrait of Ledger the artist. Devoid of gossip and any hint of salaciousness," one reviewer noted. "The result is refreshing, insightful, and also devastatingly sad."[33] It currently holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. "I'll always have my reservations with the final product. But, overall, it's a very positive portrait of a real lover of life, and his family truly loves it.Their appreciation of it means a lot to me and made it worth doing.”[34] Amato told MTV News. “And I felt like there needed to be an anecdote to all of the gossip that's out there.”[35]
I don’t need to defend Heath or tell people how you should feel about Heath because you already have a feeling about Heath. He did his job beautifully. He was a communicator. He reached people, and that was his art.[36]
Amato returned to his hometown of St. Louis to write and direct his debut feature, Never My Love, (aka The Makings Of You) starring Sheryl Lee, Grace Zabriskie and Jay R. Ferguson.[37] After resolving legal issues concerning an investor,[38] [39] Amato completed the movie as it was intended in 2024 and is looking forward to its official release. An early cut of the movie garnered some glowing reviews; this one from The Hollywood Reporter:
This beautifully acted and photographed drama leaves a lasting impression. Amato, a veteran helmer of music videos, invests the proceedings with a subtle, dreamlike quality that gives the film an undeniable, but never stultifying, artsy feel. If you're not already in love when you see the film, you'll desperately want to be afterwards.[40]
| Year | Work | Exhibition | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Art On The Rocks" | Jukkasjärvi, Sweden | Collaboration with Ann Magnuson | |
| 2007 | "Tonalism" | Farmlab, Los Angeles | All night VJ event with Dublab artists | |
| 2008 | "Labrat Matinee" | Kraak Festival, Brussels | Dublab sponsored screening of music videos[41] | |
| 2008 | "The Masses" | Marfa Film Festival | Centerpiece screening of music videos from The Masses. | |
| 2009 | "The Masses" | Rome Film Festival | Special screening featuring the work of The Masses with Q+A[42] | |
| 2009 | "Tonalism" | Henry Miller Library, Big Sur CA | All night VJ event with Dublab artists | |
| 2010 | "Real Love" | Group show: Matt Amato, Borkur, Anthony James[43] | ||
| 2011 | "Explosions In the Sky" | Group show: Matt Amato, Matthew Lessner, James Fields, Jesse Fleming, Chris Lipomi and Alexis Disselkoen[44] [45] | ||
| 2010 | "Tonalism" | Reed College, Portland OR | All night VJ event with Dublab artists | |
| 2010 | "Northern Lights" | Los Angeles Film Festival | Group show: Richard Ayoade, Andreas Nilsson, Keith Schofield, Shynola, Eric Wareheim[46] | |
| 2010 | "Imperfect As They Are" | New Museum NYC | Group show: Bruce La Bruce, Jonas Mekas, Albert Maysles, Agnes b., Mark Borthwick, Harmony Korine, Miranda July, Mount Eerie, Erroll Morris | |
| 2010 | "La Forêt de Harinezumi" | Paris / Tokyo | Group show: Chan Wook Park, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kim Gordon, Christopher Doyle, Ed Templeton[47] | |
| 2012 | "Labrat Matinee 10" | USC School of Cinematic Arts | Dublab screening of music videos: Daniels, Flying Lotus, Kahlil Joseph[48] | |
| 2013 | "Book Of James" | Los Angeles Film Festival | Group show: Music Videos for the Sake of Art, Not YouTube Views | |
| 2014 | "Sound + Image" | The Luminary St. Louis MO | Gallery show featuring music videos and film clips and neon light installation[49] | |
| 2015 | "Gena Rowlands Tribute" | LAFCA | Gena Rowlands career achievement award presented by Angelina Jolie[50] | |
| 2016 | "An Evening With Ann Magnuson" | Museum of Modern Art | Screening of two collaborations: In Search Of My Blonde Roots and Time Traveling Hooker | |
| 2017 | "I Am Heath Ledger" | Tribeca Film Festival | Premiere of documentary with Q+A led by Jess Cagle | |
| 2023 | "Unbraid: Chapters I - VIII" | Pulitzer Arts Foundtation | Screening of a work in progress about the life and work of Larry Giles[51] | |
| 2023 | "Harinezumi Movies" | Webster Film Series | Screening of experimental short films and music videos[52] [53] |
| Year | Title | Artist | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | "American Music Club" | American Music Club | Warner Bros./Reprise | |
| 1994 | "Can You Help Me?" | American Music Club | Warner Bros./Reprise | |
| 1995 | "Summer Dress" | Red House Painters | 4AD | |
| 1995 | "Cheap Cuts" | 4AD | ||
| 1995 | "The Luv Show" | Ann Magnuson | Geffen Records | |
| 1995 | "Sparkle And Fade" | Everclear | Capitol Records | |
| 1996 | "Ultralounge" | Ultralounge | Capitol Records | |
| 1996 | "Mr. Excitement" | Tipsy | Asphodel Records | |
| 1996 | "You're One" | Imperial Teen | London Recordings | |
| 1997 | "Your Thoughts And Mine" | Warner Bros./Reprise | ||
| 2001 | "Polaris" | Nortec Collective | Palm Pictures | |
| 2003 | "The Movies" | Earlimart | Palm Pictures | |
| 2003 | "Sun Angle Calculator" | Serart | Columbia Records | |
| 2004 | "Midnight" | Joel Virgil | Electric Monkey | |
| 2004 | "International Lover" | Rivera F | Tape Modern | |
| 2006 | "Lovers In Captivity" | Ima Robot | Virgin/EMI | |
| 2007 | "Fools" | The Dodos | Frenchkiss Records | |
| 2008 | "Night Of A Thousand Kisses" | Mia Doi Todd | City Zen Records | |
| 2008 | "Live At Farmlab" | Cluster | Dublab | |
| 2008 | "Live At Farmlab" | Lucky Dragons | Dublab | |
| 2008 | "The Wolves (Act 1 + 2)" | Bon Iver | Secretly Canadian | |
| 2008 | "Used To Be" | Beach House | Carpark Records | |
| 2008 | "Safe Trip Home" | Dido | Sony Music | |
| 2009 | "40 Day Dream" | Edward Sharpe And The Magnetic Zeros | Rough Trade | |
| 2009 | "And The Ghosts Boarded Trains" | Garrett Pierce | Crossbill Records | |
| 2009 | "Fables" | The Dodos | Frenchkiss Records | |
| 2009 | "Northern Lights" | Bowerbirds[54] | Dead Oceans | |
| 2010 | "Colour" | The Long Lost[55] | Dublab | |
| 2010 | "Something Golden" | Le Corps Mince de Françoise | Kitsuné, Saatchi + Saatchi | |
| 2010 | "Real Love" | Beach House | Sup Pop | |
| 2010 | "Average Fruit" | Quadron | Plug Research | |
| 2010 | "The High Road", "Vaporize", "The Ghost Inside" | Broken Bells | Columbia Records | |
| 2010 | "Take The Pain Out Of Your Chest" | 60 Watt Kid | Absolutely Kosher | |
| 2011 | "Let's Go" | Madi Diaz[56] | Small Horse Records | |
| 2011 | "Tantra Sky" | Pharaohs | Dublab | |
| 2011 | "Anit-Psalm" | Sister Crayon | Manimal Vinyl | |
| 2011 | "Book Of James" | Augustines | Oxcart Records | |
| 2011 | "Noche y Dia / San Raphael" | Matthewdavid | Alpha Pup | |
| 2011 | "Live At Hollywood Forever" | Bright Eyes | Saddle Creek Records | |
| 2012 | "No Cigarettes" | Withered Hand | Absolutely Kosher | |
| 2012 | "No More Home, No More Love" | Soko | Because Music | |
| 2012 | "Shapeshift Of Uranus" | Ninja Tune | ||
| 2012 | "Juarez" | Augustines | Oxcart Records | |
| 2012 | "I Think It's Going To Rain Today" | Barbra Streisand | Columbia Records | |
| 2012 | "Paradise" | Wild Nothing | Captured Tracks | |
| 2013 | "Contemplate" | Sweatson Klank | Project Mooncircle | |
| 2015 | "Daddy, I Cut My Hair" | Daughn Gibson[57] [58] [59] | Sub Pop | |
| 2020 | "To Be That Someone" | Jack Grelle[60] | Jack Grelle Music | |
| 2020 | "For The Beauty Of The Earth" | Betty Buckley + The SAE School Choir | Arts for Biden-Harris[61] | |
| 2021 | "I'd Want It To Be You" | Barbra Streisand + Willie Nelson[62] | Columbia Records[63] | |
| 2022 | "This Town" | Trixie Mattel + Shakey Graves[64] [65] | Peg Records | |
| 2022 | "I Can't Shake The Stranger Out Of You" | Lavender Country[66] | Don Giovanni Records | |
| 2022 | "Cry Me A River"[67] | Barbra Streisand | Columbia Records | |
| 2024 | "Emotion" | Mia Doi Todd | City Zen Records |