Matthew Puccini Explained

Matthew Puccini
Birth Place:San Francisco, California, U.S.
Occupation:Director, Producer, Writer, Editor
Years Active:2010–present
Notable Works:Lavender (2019)
Dirty (2020)
Website:http://www.matthewpuccini.com

Matthew Puccini (born) is an American filmmaker. He is known for his short films that deal with LGBT-related subject matters.[1] These include The Mess He Made (2017), Marquise (2018), Dirty (2020) and Lavender (2019). His films have played at several festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Aspen Shortsfest, Palm Springs ShortsFest, and Outfest Los Angeles. His work has also been featured on Topic and The Huffington Post.[2] [3] [4] [5] [6]

Life and career

Puccini grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2015, while attending New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, he made his first film as writer and director, Solo, which starred Tommy Nelson and Matthew Mindler. It earned Puccini the King Award for Screenwriting at NYU’s First Run Film Festival and won the 2017 Golden Reel Award for Best Student Film at the Tiburon International Film Festival.[7] [8]

After graduating from NYU in 2017, Puccini made his next film, The Mess He Made, which showed the experience of waiting for the results of an HIV test through the eyes of a man, played by Max Jenkins.[9] [10] The film premiered at SXSW in 2017, where it became a finalist for the Iris Prize. That same year, Puccini became a member of the 2017 New York Film Festival Artist Academy, a Richie Jackson Fellow at Tisch School of the Arts and a Creative Culture Fellow at the Jacob Burns Film Center. He then produced two more short films, Stumped and Marquise, the latter of which was acquired for streaming by Topic Studios.[11]

In 2018, Puccini was named a Sundance Ignite Fellow.[12] He created a Kickstarter campaign to fund Lavender, which he then produced later that year, starring Michael Hsu Rosen, Ken Barnett and Michael Urie. The film premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for both the festival's Short Film Grand Jury Prize and Vimeo’s Best Drama of 2019, and won the Here Media Award for Best Queer Short Film at the Provincetown International Film Festival. Its distribution rights were acquired by Fox Searchlight Pictures after its Sundance premiere.[13]

In 2020, his next film, Dirty premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Jury Award for Best Short Film. The film was screened virtually at SXSW due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[14] where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short and received a Special Jury Award for Acting.[15] [16] It then went on to play at BFI Flare, Outfest Fusion, Atlanta Film Festival and the Palm Springs ShortsFest.[17] [18] In October 2020, the film's streaming rights were acquired by The Criterion Channel.[19]

In 2024, Puccini and Lavender co-producer Casey Bader participated in the Creators Market at that year's Tribeca Festival to pitch what they hope will be Puccini's feature directorial debut.[20]

Personal life

Puccini lives in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
2013 A Fiberglass Affair Editor Narrative short
2014 Do Us Part Editor Narrative short
2014 Anchovies Editor Narrative short
2015 Backyard Portal Editor Narrative short
2015 Solo Director, writer Narrative short
2016 Where People Hide Away Editor Narrative short
2016 Burning Child Editor Narrative short
2017 The Mess He Made Director, producer, writer Narrative short
2017 Stumped Director, writer, editor Narrative short
2018 Marquise Director, writer, editor Documentary short
2019 Lavender Director, writer Narrative short
2020 Dirty Director, producer, writer Narrative short
2021 Queer/Elder Director Documentary short
2022 Starfuckers Executive producer Narrative short

Awards and nominations

Film festival awards

YearFestivalFilmAwardResultNotes
2016NYU First Run Film FestivalSoloKing Award for Screenwriting
2017Tiburon International Film FestivalGolden Reel Award for Best Student Film
SXSW Film FestivalThe Mess He MadeGrand Jury Award for Narrative Short
Sarasota Film FestivalGrand Jury Prize - Narrative Short Competition
2019Sundance Film FestivalLavenderGrand Jury Prize - Short Film
Sarasota Film FestivalGrand Jury Prize - Narrative Short Competition
SXSW Film FestivalGrand Jury Award for Narrative Short
Provincetown International Film FestivalHere Media Award - Best Queer Short Film
2020Sundance Film FestivalDirtyGrand Jury Prize - Short Film
SXSW Film FestivalGrand Jury Award for Narrative Short
Palm Springs International ShortFestBest LGBTQ+ Short
Montclair Film FestivalFiction Shorts Competition

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Matthew Puccini. 2020-06-03. Filmmaker Magazine. 27 August 2019 . en.
  2. http://matthewpuccini.com/bio About – Matthew Puccini
  3. https://www.nffty.org/alumni-spotlight-matthew-puccini Alumni Spotlight - Matthew Puccini – NFFTY
  4. https://tisch.nyu.edu/student-affairs/career-development/alumni-career-development/car_jackson/richie-jackson-fellows/matthew-puccini Matthew Puccini
  5. https://variety.com/2019/film/markets-festivals/sundance-film-festival-lavender-1203118266/ Sundance: Fox Searchlight Buys ‘Lavender’ With Michael Urie – Variety
  6. Web site: 2019-05-15. Michael Urie Heads Gay Throuple in Evocative Fox Searchlight Short 'Lavender' – Watch. 2020-06-03. IndieWire. en.
  7. Web site: 2016 Wasserman Awards. 2020-12-25. NYU Tisch School of the Arts. en.
  8. Web site: 2017 Golden Reel Awards. 2020-12-25. Tiburon International Film Festival. en.
  9. Web site: 2017-12-01. Watch This Short Film on the Terror of HIV Tests, 'The Mess He Made'. 2020-12-25. www.advocate.com. en.
  10. Web site: 2017-12-01. 'High Maintenance' Star Max Jenkins Sheds the Laughs in Poignant Short Film About Waiting for an HIV Test – Watch. 2020-12-25. IndieWire. en.
  11. Web site: 2019-01-25. Fox Searchlight acquires Matthew Puccini's 'Lavender' Short Film. 2020-12-25. The Wrap. en.
  12. Web site: 2019-01-25. Sundance Institute Announces 2018 Sundance Ignite Fellows. 2020-12-25. Sundance Institute. en.
  13. http://www.playbill.com/article/torch-songs-michael-urie-and-michael-hsu-rosen-reunite-in-short-film-lavender-at-sundance Torch Song’s Michael Urie and Michael Hsu Rosen Reunite in Short Film Lavender at Sundance | Playbill
  14. Web site: 2020-01-23. 2020 Sundance Preview: 10 Must-See Short Films in Park City. 2020-06-03. IndieWire. en.
  15. Web site: 2020-03-24. The 2020 SXSW Film Festival Announces Jury and Special Awards. 2020-06-03. SXSW. en.
  16. Web site: 2020-05-09. SXSW 2020: Best Short Films Streaming Online. 2020-06-03. The Young Folks. en.
  17. Web site: 2020-06-05. Palm Springs ShortFest Selects 2020 Films. 2020-06-05. Palm Springs Life. en.
  18. Web site: 2020-06-04. Take a look: ShortFest announces lineup of 332 short films. 2020-06-05. Palm Springs Desert Sun. en.
  19. Web site: 2020-09-24. October 2020 Programming on the Criterion Channel Announced. 2020-12-25. Criterion Cast. en.
  20. Web site: Dunn . Jack . 2024-06-04 . Tribeca Festival 2024 Reveals Creators Market Participants (EXCLUSIVE) . 2024-06-28 . Variety . en-US.