Matthew Ross is a renowned director, screenwriter, and journalist hailing from New York City. With a profound passion for storytelling, Ross made his feature-length directorial debut with the critically acclaimed film Frank & Lola in 2016, a "psychosexual noir love story" starring an ensemble cast including Michael Shannon, Imogen Poots, Michael Nyqvist, Justin Long, Emmanuelle Devos, and Rosanna Arquette.
Frank & Lola premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, where it received an overwhelmingly positive response from critics, including a 4-star review in The Guardian. Two days after its initial screening, Universal acquired worldwide rights to the film, releasing it theatrically and on VOD later that year.
In addition to his feature-length work, Ross has also directed several festival shorts, including Lola (2006),Red Angel (2007),and Curtis and Clover (2001). His viral video Inspired by Bret Easton Ellis (2010),commissioned by Ellis and Random House, was praised by film critic Roger Ebert as "one terrific video." Ross has also written and directed over 50 episodes of FIGHT! Life, an online documentary series about professional fighters, which has garnered over 6 million YouTube views.
As a story consultant, Ross contributed to the DGA award-winning episode "Palestinian Chicken" of Larry David's HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm (2000). He has also written and rewritten screenplays for various production companies, including Anonymous Content, Radical Studios, Palmstar Entertainment, Sundial Pictures, and Infinity Media.
As a journalist, Ross has held staff editor/writer positions at several publications, including Variety, Filmmaker, Indiewire, FIGHT!, and The Aesthete. His freelance articles about film, culture, sports, and politics have appeared in numerous publications, including Playboy, The Village Voice, Nerve, Humanity magazine, and the Criterion Collection. In 2013, Playboy published his investigative feature "Inside El Rodeo," a 8,000-word story about a young American documentary filmmaker's imprisonment in Venezuela.
Ross has also been a Directing Fellow at the Sundance Institute's Feature Filmmaking Labs and a board member of the IFP's Program Advisory Board. He has hosted the Independent Film Channel's IFC in Theaters series, appeared as a commentator/panelist for CNBC's Independent Spirit Awards coverage and HDNet's Inside MMA, and moderated panels and served on the jury at numerous film festivals and events.
Ross graduated Cum Laude with Honors from Harvard University and is currently represented by the William Morris Endeavor agency and MGMT management. He resides in Brooklyn.
