| Matthew Leutwyler | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 23, 1969 San Francisco, California |
Matthew Steven Leutwyler (born July 23, 1969) is an American writer, director, producer.
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Leutwyler studied film at The San Francisco Art Institute. His first feature film was the dark comedy/road picture Road Kill starring Jennifer Rubin, Erik Palladino, Brian Vander Ark, Anthony Denison, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Jon Polito. Made on a shoestring budget of $180,000, the film premiered at the 1999 Santa Barbara International Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Feature Film. Leutwyler followed up with a romantic comedy / drama This Space Between Us which introduced him to a stable of actors he would find himself working with again in the future. Starring Jeremy Sisto, Poppy Montgomery, Alex Kingston, Vanessa Marcil, Garry Marshall, and Erik Palladino, the film premiered at The Seattle International Film Festival and later went on to win the Moxie Award for best Comedy at the Santa Monica Film Festival.
In 2002 Leutwyler partnered with Miranda Bailey, Francey Grace, and Jun Tan to form the Los Angeles based production company Ambush Entertainment. Ambush has produced the films The Oh in Ohio (starring Parker Posey, Mischa Barton, Paul Rudd, and Danny DeVito), The Academy Award Nominated, The Squid and the Whale (starring Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney), and Dead & Breakfast (directed by Leutwyler).
Dead & Breakfast (2005) marked Leutwyler's foray into the horror genre. A splatter-comedy in the vein of The Evil Dead series and the early Peter Jackson films Dead Alive and Bad Taste. The film reteamed Leutwyler with Jeremy Sisto, Erik Palladino, Vincent Ventresca, Jeffrrey Dean Morgan, and Brian Vander Ark. The ensemble cast was rounded out by Ever Carradine, Gina Philips, Portia de Rossi, Diedrich Bader, and David Carradine. The film became a cult favorite on the festival circuit after premiering at the South By Southwest Film Festival; earning Best Feature and Audience Awards at The Rhode Island International Horror Festival, Shriekfest L.A., San Francisco Horror Fest, Weekend Of Fear (Nuremberg, Germany). The film was also nominated for a Saturn Award by the prestigious Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films.
Leutwyler's next project was another horror film, though this time more traditional. Unearthed starred Emmanuelle Vaugier, Luke Goss, M.C. Gainey, Beau Garrett and Charlie Murphy. It is a Sci-Fi Horror film in the vein of The Thing and Alien. It premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and was acquired by After Dark Films.
In recent years Leutwyler seems to be moving away from genre films in favor of smaller more indie fare.
Leutwyler's production company Ambush Entertainment has recently produced Lower Learning with Eva Longoria, Jason Biggs, and Rob Corddry; Wonderful World with Matthew Broderick, and Sanaa Lathan - Released by Magnolia Pictures; and The 2009 Sundance entry Against The Current starring Joseph Fiennes, Mary Tyler Moore and Elizabeth Reaser.
In 2009 he directed the adaptation of the acclaimed novel The River Why. Shot on location in Oregon, the film stars Zach Gilford, William Hurt, Amber Heard, Kathleen Quinlan.
Also in 2009 he produced Richard Levine's comedy drama Every Day starring Liev Schrieber, Helen Hunt, Carla Gugino and Brian Dennehy.
Leutwyler co-created the television pilot Stuck with actors Erik Palladino and Vincent Ventresca. The partially improvised comedy also starred Maura Tierny, Eric McCormack, and Dean Cain.
He recently completed post production on the ensemble drama Answers to Nothing, which he is directing and co-wrote with Gillian Vigman. The film stars Dane Cook, Elizabeth Mitchell, Julie Benz, Barbara Hershey, Zach Gilford and Erik Palladino. The film will be released through Roadside Attractions in late 2011.
He Executive Produced the comedy Super starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon currently in theaters.
May 6, 2011 Deadline Hollywood announced that he will be producing the Catherine Hardwike (Twilight)-directed drama The Bitch Posse. He will be producing alongside his Ambush Entertainment partner Miranda Bailey and Title IX partners Virginia Madsen and Karly Meola.