Matthew Ehlers

Matthew Ehlers is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter.

Matthew Ehlers began his professional filmmaking career shortly after graduating USC Cinema with his anti-smoking commercial for the American Cancer Society, "Cancel Your Reservations Now", which was seen in over 52 television markets throughout the US. He also directed Philip Seymour Hoffman in a public service announcement for The Shipping Dock Theatre.

In 1999 he released "The Alibi", a twelve-minute comedy short. The film was seen in 15 festivals worldwide and was seen on HBO. His next short, Lunch, was an official selection of the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. (http://www.atom.com/funny_videos/lunch_ehlers/ Lunch on Atom.com) It has since appeared in over 40 film festivals including SXSW and US Comedy Arts. It has been shown on HBO, IFC as well as The Sundance Channel. His next short, "Autobank", was also accepted into Sundance as well as 30 other festivals and was broadcast on Comedy Central. His follow-up short, "Who’s Your Daddy?", became Ehlers's third straight film to be accepted at the Sundance Film Festival and was also seen on Comedy Central.

Following Sundance, Ehlers was commissioned by Made Up North Productions in Manchester, UK to write the screenplay for their feature project, Jump. He is also developing other feature film projects with Made Up North Productions’ Michael Knowles. The company recently options his screenplay, Vows & Rites, & is slated to begin production on the project in 2010. His first feature film, Smoking Laws, premiered at the High Falls Film Festival. (http://www.smokinglawsmovie.com Official Website) The film is represented by PUSH Worldwide & has US/Canadian distribution by Seminal Films.

In 2002 Matthew was one of five final contestants in the Chrysler Hypnotic Million Dollar Film Festival. The contest involved creating short content at both the Cannes Film Festival & Universal Studios.

Matthew wrote and directed a web series for Comedy Central, Cappers, which aired on their show, AtomTV. He has also co-wrote and directed a viral campaign for the Village Voice. (http://www.eggwork.com/cappers Cappers Official Website)

His copywriting credits include work for such companies as Time Warner Cable, Kodak and a re-branding campaign for AOL’s Running Man. In 2008, he directed the LG Dare demonstration video for Verizon through R/GA in NYC. Later that year, he directed a series of candid election-themed comedy shorts for San Francisco's Duncan/Channon agency for their client, Birkenstock. In 2009 he directed a spot for the Hard Rock Café's new Yankees Stadium location. The project, which airs on the stadium's jumbotron, features rock & roll legends, including The Bacon Brothers, DMC, Little Steven and Ace Freeley, singing a mash-up of “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”. He has recently finished a series of demonstration videos for Jabra headphones and is working on their viral digital campaign. He is currently working on R/GA’s 2010 campaign for Wal-mart.