Matthew Dean Russell

Matt is one of the “hot” new directors on the movie scene. He is known for his VFX work in directing big name actors for Hollywood blockbusters such as Die Hard 4, Charolette’s Web, Night At the Museum, Blade Trinity and Zathura. Matt has been telling stories through movies from the time he was a little boy. He shot his first feature film while still in junior high school. “I lugged around my mom’s full-sized VHS camera,” recalls Matt, “And got all my friends to help me for free by bribing them with pizza!”

In 2008, Matt was invited to speak at the Sundance Film Festival about his latest film project, I AM, which Matt wrote and directed. The story is about a guy who has fortune and fame but whose only faith is in himself, until something happens that changes his perspective…very similar to the story in Seven Days in Utopia. When Matt read the inspirational novel, Golf’s Sacred Journey and learned of the potential transition of the story to film, he told friends and family, “I’m supposed to direct this.” Since committing to the project Matt has said,  “I want to tell stories that change the way people think…that allow people to feel and know God is real through the actions and examples unfolding on the screen.”

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