Matt Johnson
You’ve likely never heard of Matt Johnson, the new kid on the block filmmaker who created the rebellious and soulful coming-of-age story Tony, that was just released earlier this summer. It’s time you've heard Matt's tale and how he’s come to be one of the most unique directors of our time.
Matt Johnson born in 1985 comes from Toronto, Canada, and had an early passion for movies. In his mid 20s, Matt and Jay McCarrol starred together in a short web series they created completely independently called Nirvanna the Band the Show. The original webseries consisted of only 11 episodes and was posted to Matt & Jay’s official website nirvannathebandtheshow.com. In the series Matt and Jay play fictional versions of themselves who are in a band together called Nirvanna the Band. They make relentless attempts each episode in a pursuit to try to book a gig at The Rivoli in Toronto. The series was filmed with a very low budget which forced the two to use mainly improvisational film techniques and shaky handheld cameras. Matt would later adopt this style of filmmaking that blurred the line between fiction and non-fiction into his later works.
Later in 2013 Matt received good feedback from critics at the 2013 Slamdance Film Festival with his first feature film The Dirties, in which starred Matt as a young bullied high school student. Then in 2016 he struck gold again with another small feature film he produced called Operation: Avalanche. All of these early feature films stuck to Matt's handheld film style that he used to make his Nirvanna the Band webseries, which brought him around to making a remastered version of the show in 2017. With Matt & Jay back together again, and with their new cameraman and cinematographer Jared Raab, they aired the first few episodes of the new Nirvanna the Band the Show series at the Toronto International Film Festival. Over the course of 2016-2017, they aired two seasons of this new show which was packed to the brim with soul not only from Matt & Jay’s love of improv and comedy but also for other forms of media and entertainment. The show would reference other shows and movies throughout its runtime paying tribute to all the amazing forms of entertainment Matt Johnson was inspired by. A third season of the show was partially produced in 2018 but was ultimately never released or finished. Because of this upset, between the years of 2018 through to 2021 Matt taught film at York University. Additionally he acted in four small feature films from the times between 2015 and 2024.
Jay McCarrol
In 2023 Matt Johnson directed the feature film BlackBerry. The film tells the story of the downfall of the BlackBerry phones due to the release of the iPhone. The film was a massive success scoring the Rogers Best Canadian Film Award of 2023. It also holds the record for most nominations ever received at the Canadian Screen Awards, it won 14 of those nominations including Best Motion Pictlure and Best Director. The score for the film was also produced and created by Jay McCarrol who has now gone into the music industry. Riding the success of BlackBerry, Matt & Jay received good funding from Telefilm Canada that allowed them to create a Nirvanna the Band movie.
Nirvana the Band the Show the Movie was by far the biggest movie of Matt’s career so far. The film stars Matt & Jay once again trying to book a show at The Rivoli until they end up being sent back in time to 2008 to when they first started the show. The film pulls real footage of Matt & Jay from 2008 to use in these time traveling scenes. In the movie the two go across Toronto, jumping from the top of the CN Tower, going to a real Jay McCarrol concert, and even Drake's house. Matt Johnson masterfully weaved together real life events and places of non-fiction to create a fictional story. Using almost no actors or actresses in the film every encounter in the movie is real. Their wild journey premiered on March 9, 2025 at South by Southwest. It reached high appraise from many critics and earned yet another Canadian Screen Award and even won best award for “The Alphabet Song”. Although the plot of the film was entirely improvised and had to be changed multiple times during post-production critics still said the film “Was a masterpiece of soul and talent”. In February 2026, the film was shown in Canadian theaters and some American arts centers as well. For a long time it was one of the highest rated movies of 2026, the critic and audience reviews were both incredibly high because of Matt's filming style which surprised audiences that stated “There were so many times I had to ask myself, how did they film this?”. The film was distributed by Neon Studios which is still renowned as one of the last studios who are refusing to integrate any form of AI into their studios.
Now, just a couple months ago Matt released Tony (score also created by Jay McCarrol). Produced by A24, Tony was Matt’s first American film, breaking him into U.S audiences he found success with Tony it being yet another critical gold mine. Many agreed that this Anthony Bourdain biopic was so full of heart and a great love for food. The film follows the famed chef Anthony Bourdain during the summer that changed the course of his life forever. The film conveys to the viewer to live their life to the fullest and to explore the world on their feet. Using a more grounded style of filming Tony brought viewers who had not seen Matt’s work before into his returning audience and encouraged them to watch his other films.
Nowadays Matt is directing alongside esteemed director Josh Safdie and actor Finn Wolfhard. His career seems to be shooting upward rapidly thanks to his Nirvanna the Band upbringing. His unique film style has quickly captivated audiences and now we can only expect more great works from the great Matt Johnson.
Image Links:
Matt Johnson: https://www.vulture.com/article/matt-johnson-tony-encounter.html
Jay McCarrol: https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/jay-mccarrol/jay-mccarrol-tony-interview-august-2026
Do Not Sue Us: https://www.instagram.com/p/DaYQByyCeIg/
Cover Image: https://www.gq.com/story/matt-johnson-tony-movie-director-interview
