MATTHEW GENTILE is an award-winning writer and director based in Los Angeles. His AFI thesis film, Frontman, won the 2016 Student Emmy for Best Directing from the Television Academy Foundation, as well as the Dolby + Vizio Vision Award at AFI Fest. Frontman went on to play over fifty film festivals around the world, winning a dozen prizes.
Off the strength of the film, Matthew was hired to direct a film in Japan and also to come back to AFI as an alum and direct a second thesis film, Lawman. Starring Lance Reddick (The Wire), Tory Kittles (Colony), and Erica Tazel (Justified); Lawman has played over 85 festivals to date including the Oscar-qualifying AFI Fest, LA Shorts Fest, Bermuda, Woodstock, SCAD Savannah, Hamptons, and many more. It recently won the Dolby + Vizio Vision Award at AFI Fest and the Grand Jury Prize at the March on Washington Film Festival.
This past year, Matthew wrote, directed, and produced a proof of concept short for his first feature, American Murderer starring Jonathan Groff ('Mindhunter'). The feature is currently set up with Traveling Picture Show Company and GiGi Films.