# Matt Johnson (director)

Matt Johnson (born October 5, 1985) is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He first attracted accolades for his low-budget independent feature films, including The Dirties (2013), which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival, and Operation Avalanche (2016), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
Johnson achieved acclaim and commercial success with his third feature film, BlackBerry (2023), which documented the rise and fall of the BlackBerry phone. The film premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, and went on to win several accolades including the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.
In addition to his feature films, Johnson is known for co-creating, co-starring in, and directing the mockumentary-sitcom Nirvanna the Band the Show.

## Career
### 2007–2009: Early work

Johnson's major directorial debut was the independent mockumentary-sitcom web series Nirvana the Band the Show, which ran from 2007-2009. Johnson co-created and co-starred in the series with lifelong best friend and fellow filmmaker Jay McCarrol.

### 2013–2014: The Dirties

Johnson achieved widespread critical acclaim in Canada with his first feature film The Dirties, which won Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival. He was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Editing at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for The Dirties.
The film had a production budget of $10,000. After finishing production, an additional $45,000 was needed to secure licensing rights for the music used in the film. All the film's financing came "out of pocket."
There was almost no scripted dialogue and several scenes were shot without some of the participants' awareness.

### 2016: Operation Avalanche

Operation Avalanche premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Johnson had received an offer to premiere the film at the Toronto International Film Festival but declined, reasoning that the film would be lost in the large number of films shown there. Lionsgate released it in the US on September 16, 2016. He was nominated for Best Director at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017 for his work on Operation Avalanche.
The film received mostly positive reviews from critics. Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, "Matt Johnson and Owen Williams' wild, borderline-illegal stunt delivers big time on its crazy premise." John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter called it a "likeable if not always convincing fantasy that gets much mileage from its period feel". Anthony Kaufman of Screen Daily wrote that the film "comes across more as a rambling lark than a tightly conceived film".

### 2016–2018: Nirvanna the Band the Show

In 2016, the Nirvana the Band the Show web series was adapted into a television series titled Nirvanna the Band the Show which premiered on Viceland in 2017. Several episodes of the first season were shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. The show is not a direct continuation of the web series, serving as more of a spiritual successor, but features occasional references to the events of the web series.

### 2023: BlackBerry

In 2022, Johnson directed and co-wrote, with Matthew Miller, the film BlackBerry, about the rise and fall of Canadian tech company Research in Motion. The film stars Glenn Howerton as Jim Balsillie, Jay Baruchel as Mike Lazaridis, and Johnson as Douglas Fregin. BlackBerry premiered in competition at the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival on February 17, 2023, and attracted widespread critical acclaim.
The film won several accolades, including the $50,000 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award from the Toronto Film Critics Association.
The film broke the record for the most nominations for a film at the Canadian Screen Awards, with 17 nominations at the 2024 ceremony. The film later won 14 awards, including Best Motion Picture.

### Other work

In addition to his own productions, he has had acting roles in feature films such as Diamond Tongues, and the Kazik Radwanski projects How Heavy This Hammer, Anne at 13,000 Ft. and Matt and Mara.
Johnson and Jay McCarrol co-created and co-starred in an animated spiritual successor to Nirvanna the Band the Show made for children called Matt & Bird Break Loose in 2021.
Johnson and Miller founded their own production house, Zapruder Films, in 2013. Three years later, in 2016, the company released its first project, Operation Avalanche. The company is still active today.
Johnson and Miller won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and Johnson won the award for Best Director, at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024 for BlackBerry.
In 2024, he served as jury president of the Compétition Cheval Noir award ceremony at the 28th Fantasia International Film Festival.

## Filmography
### Film
#### As director/writer

| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Notes |
| 2013 | The Dirties | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also editor, co-written with Evan Morgan |
| 2016 | Operation Avalanche | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Josh Boles |
| 2023 | BlackBerry | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Co-written with Matthew Miller |
| 2025 | Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Co-written with Jay McCarrol |

#### As actor

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | The Dirties | Matt | Fictionalized version of himself |
| 2015 | Diamond Tongues | John Matheson | |
| 2015 | How Heavy This Hammer | Hardware Store Employee | |
| 2016 | Operation Avalanche | Himself | Fictionalized version of himself |
| 2019 | Anne at 13,000 Ft. | Matt | |
| 2023 | BlackBerry | Doug Fregin | |
| 2024 | Matt and Mara | Matt | |
| 2024 | The Heirloom | Belligerent Veterinarian |

### Television
#### As director/writer

| Years | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Notes |
| 2017-2018 | Nirvanna the Band the Show | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed and co-wrote all 16 episodes |

#### As actor

| Years | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2017-2018 | Nirvanna the Band the Show | Matt | Fictionalized version of himself |

### Web
#### As director/writer

| Years | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Notes |
| 2007-2009 | Nirvana the Band the Show | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Directed and co-wrote all 11 episodes with Jay McCarrol |

#### As actor

| Years | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2007-2009 | Nirvana the Band the Show | Matt | Fictionalized version of himself |