{{short description|American filmmaker (born c. 1992/1993)}} {{Infobox person | name = Matthew Puccini | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth based on age as of date|27|2020|02|06}} | birth_place = San Francisco, California, U.S. | other_names = | alma_mater = New York University {{Small|(BFA)}} | occupation = Director, Producer, Writer, Editor | years_active = 2010–present | notable_works = ''Lavender'' (2019)<br>''Dirty'' (2020) | website = http://www.matthewpuccini.com }}
'''Matthew Puccini''' (born {{Circa|1992/1993}}) is an American filmmaker. He is known for his short films that deal with LGBT-related subject matters.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Matthew Puccini|url=https://filmmakermagazine.com/people/matthew-puccini/#.Xte9yi2z3u0|access-date=2020-06-03|website=Filmmaker Magazine|date=27 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>[http://matthewpuccini.com/bio About – Matthew Puccini<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref name=autogenerated1>[https://www.nffty.org/alumni-spotlight-matthew-puccini Alumni Spotlight - Matthew Puccini – NFFTY<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://tisch.nyu.edu/student-affairs/career-development/alumni-career-development/car_jackson/richie-jackson-fellows/matthew-puccini |title=Matthew Puccini<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2020-06-03 |archive-date=2020-06-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603033956/https://tisch.nyu.edu/student-affairs/career-development/alumni-career-development/car_jackson/richie-jackson-fellows/matthew-puccini |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[https://variety.com/2019/film/markets-festivals/sundance-film-festival-lavender-1203118266/ Sundance: Fox Searchlight Buys ‘Lavender’ With Michael Urie – Variety<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-05-15|title=Michael Urie Heads Gay Throuple in Evocative Fox Searchlight Short 'Lavender' – Watch|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2019/05/gay-short-film-michael-urie-lgbt-lavender-1202141548/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=IndieWire|language=en}}</ref>
==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.<ref>{{Cite web|title=2016 Wasserman Awards|url=https://tisch.nyu.edu/first-run-film-festival/awards/2016-wasserman-awards|access-date=2020-12-25|website=NYU Tisch School of the Arts|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=2017 Golden Reel Awards|url=http://www.tiburonfilmfestival.com/filmInfo?film_id=9523|access-date=2020-12-25|website=Tiburon International Film Festival|language=en}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-01|title=Watch This Short Film on the Terror of HIV Tests, 'The Mess He Made'|url=https://www.advocate.com/hiv-aids/2017/12/01/watch-short-film-terror-hiv-tests-mess-he-made|access-date=2020-12-25|website=www.advocate.com|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-12-01|title='High Maintenance' Star Max Jenkins Sheds the Laughs in Poignant Short Film About Waiting for an HIV Test – Watch|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2017/12/high-maintenance-max-jenkins-world-aids-day-hiv-video-lgbt-1201883295/|access-date=2020-12-25|website=IndieWire|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-25|title=Fox Searchlight acquires Matthew Puccini's 'Lavender' Short Film|url=https://www.thewrap.com/fox-searchlight-acquires-matthew-puccinis-lavender-short-film/|access-date=2020-12-25|website=The Wrap|language=en}}</ref>
In 2018, Puccini was named a Sundance Ignite Fellow.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-01-25|title=Sundance Institute Announces 2018 Sundance Ignite Fellows|url=https://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/sundance-institute-announces-2018-sundance-ignite-fellows#/|access-date=2020-12-25|website=Sundance Institute|language=en}}</ref> 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.<ref>[https://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<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
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,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-01-23|title=2020 Sundance Preview: 10 Must-See Short Films in Park City|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2020/01/sundance-film-festival-2020-short-films-1202204059/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=IndieWire|language=en}}</ref> where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short and received a Special Jury Award for Acting.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-03-24|title=The 2020 SXSW Film Festival Announces Jury and Special Awards|url=https://www.sxsw.com/film/2020/the-2020-sxsw-film-festival-announces-jury-and-special-awards/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=SXSW|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-09|title=SXSW 2020: Best Short Films Streaming Online |url=https://www.theyoungfolks.com/film/143150/sxsw-2020-best-short-films-streaming-online/|access-date=2020-06-03|website=The Young Folks|language=en}}</ref> It then went on to play at BFI Flare, Outfest Fusion, Atlanta Film Festival and the Palm Springs ShortsFest.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-05|title=Palm Springs ShortFest Selects 2020 Films|url=https://www.palmspringslife.com/palm-springs-shortfest-2020-films/|access-date=2020-06-05|website=Palm Springs Life|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-04|title=Take a look: ShortFest announces lineup of 332 short films|url=https://www.desertsun.com/story/life/entertainment/movies/shortfest/2020/06/04/palm-springs-shortfest-announces-lineup-332-short-films/5287782002/|access-date=2020-06-05|website=Palm Springs Desert Sun|language=en}}</ref> In October 2020, the film's streaming rights were acquired by The Criterion Channel.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-24|title=October 2020 Programming on the Criterion Channel Announced|url=https://criterioncast.com/news/october-2020-programming-on-the-criterion-channel-announced|access-date=2020-12-25|website=Criterion Cast|language=en}}</ref>
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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dunn |first=Jack |date=2024-06-04 |title=Tribeca Festival 2024 Reveals Creators Market Participants (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/markets-festivals/tribeca-festival-2024-creators-market-1236024138/ |access-date=2024-06-28 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>
===Personal life=== Puccini lives in Los Angeles.
==Filmography== {|class="wikitable sortable" style="border:none; margin:0; |- valign="bottom" ! scope="col"| Year !! scope="col"| Title !! scope="col"| Role !! scope="col"| 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=== {| class="wikitable" style="font-size:95%;" ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Year ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Festival ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Award ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Result ! style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Notes |- | 2016 | NYU First Run Film Festival |rowspan="2" | ''Solo'' | King Award for Screenwriting | {{Won}} | |- | rowspan="3" | 2017 | Tiburon International Film Festival | Golden Reel Award for Best Student Film | {{Won}} | |- | SXSW Film Festival |rowspan="2" | ''The Mess He Made'' | Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short | {{Nominated}} | |- | Sarasota Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Short Competition | {{Nominated}} | |- | rowspan="4" | 2019 | Sundance Film Festival | rowspan="4" | ''Lavender'' | Grand Jury Prize - Short Film | {{Nominated}} | |- | Sarasota Film Festival | Grand Jury Prize - Narrative Short Competition | {{Nominated}} | |- | SXSW Film Festival | Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short | {{Nominated}} | |- | Provincetown International Film Festival | Here Media Award - Best Queer Short Film | {{Won}} | |- | rowspan="4" | 2020 | Sundance Film Festival | rowspan="4" |''Dirty'' | Grand Jury Prize - Short Film | {{Nominated}} | |- | SXSW Film Festival | Grand Jury Award for Narrative Short | {{Nominated}} | |- | Palm Springs International ShortFest | Best LGBTQ+ Short | {{Nominated}} | |- | Montclair Film Festival | Fiction Shorts Competition | {{Nominated}} | |}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|5829086}} *[https://mubi.com/cast/matthew-puccini Matthew Puccini on Mubi] *[http://www.matthewpuccini.com/ Matthew Puccini website]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Puccini, Matthew}} Category:Film producers from New York City Category:American male screenwriters Category:American film editors Category:American LGBTQ film directors Category:American LGBTQ screenwriters Category:American gay writers Category:New York University alumni Category:New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:Film directors from San Francisco Category:Film directors from Brooklyn Category:1990s births Category:Living people Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:21st-century American male writers