AJ Mattioli

AJ Mattioli (born 1981) is a transgender film director, producer, production designer, LGBTQ activist, and owner of Mattioli Productions Company.[1]

Career

AJ has worked in the film industry for over 16 years based out of New York City.[2] He has produced and directed feature films, short films, and music videos.

First recognized by the LGBTQ community for his documentary film titled “Words: an Exploration of Identity”.[2] AJ, a transgender man himself, has since been known for his filmmaking and podcasts discussing LGBTQIA+ issues.[2]

In 2012, AJ Mattioli was a guest speaker at the annual Broadway Sings for Pride, Gay Pride Concert.[3]

In an interview with Gay Star News, AJ Mattioli discusses his hope for LGBTQ media: "My advice is to tell your stories without hesitation. Tell it with truth and love, no matter what the budget. You will probably never be a millionaire but by telling LGBTQ stories you give a gift to people everywhere with your art and could truly help a viewer." [1]

Mattioli Productions

AJ Mattioli owns and operates Mattioli Productions Company, which specializes in LGBTQ media. The company works to increase the value of gay cinema, by telling LGBTQ stories to new audiences. Mattioli Productions has produced films in different genres including science fiction, comedy, drama, and documentary films.

Some of the LGBTQ stars who have featured in these films include: Carmen Carrera, Bob the Drag Queen, Shakina Nayfack, Mark Fisher, Eric Millegan, Miss Fame, Rain Dove, Cory Wade, and many others.[4]

The film Killer Unicorn is one of Mattioli Productions most recent films.[4] The film takes place in Brooklyn, NY and tells a tale of a murderous unicorn rampaging through the LGBTQ community.[4] In addition, it features several LGBTQ stars including Rify Royalty, Horrorchat, BibleGirl, and Aja[4]

Mattioli Productions Company has supported the non-profit “The Ali Forney Center”, based in New York City, which focuses on helping the LGBTQ homeless youth in the United States.

Fearless

AJ Mattioli works with the streaming service Fearless[5] as of 2020 where he curates and publishes LGBTQ films and series in collaboration with the Fearless co-founder Matkai Burmaster. AJ's current films on Fearless include Words, Neon Boys, MASS, Role of a Lifetime, How to Fold a Fitted Sheet, Hopelessly, and Innocent Boy.[6]

Personal life

AJ has identified himself as a transgender man for over a year and a half.[1] Born, Jana Mattioli, AJ has said to have known he was transgender since grade two. However, he didn’t begin taking testosterone until January 2016.[1]

Filmography

AJ Mattioli often educates the public on LGBTQ issues through his films. His documentary Gay Positive takes place in New York City and focuses on educating the public about the ban on gay men donating blood.[7]

Words, another documentary explores identity and expression.[8] Furthermore, it discusses the impact social media and technologies has had on communication.[8] The documentary features various interviews and appearances from activists, artists, and innovators.[9]

[10]
Year Title Contribution Notes
2010 An Affirmative Act Director Feature
2011 Bidentity Crisis Director and Producer Short
2012 The Out-Sider Director and Producer Short
2012 Coffee and a Bite Director and Producer Short
2012 The Coffee Klash Director and Producer Short
2012 The Replacement Director and Producer Short
2012 The House That Cried Blood Associate Producer Short
2012 Paragon Algorithm Co-Producer Short
2012 Curiosity Killed The Cat Director and Producer Short
2014 Lady Peacock Director and Producer Feature
2014 The Coffee Shop Director and Producer Feature
2014 Gay Positive Director and Producer Documentary
2014-2015 Gays: The Series Executive Producer TV Series
2016 Words Director and Producer Documentary
2016 The Final Stage Associate Producer Short
2017 Killer Unicorn Co-Producer Feature
2017 Four and Twenty Co-Producer TV Series
2017 The Evangelist Executive Producer Feature
2017 Role of a Lifetime Producer Short
2018 The Roast of Sherry VIne Co-Producer Producer TV Series
2018 Neon Boys Director and Producer Short
2019 A Single Evening Producer Short
2019 How to Fold A Fitted Sheet Co-Producer Short
2019 Hopelessly Co-Producer Short
2020 Mass Co-Producer Short
2020 Guys at Parties Like It Producer Feature

Music videos
  • Sasha Velour - Pirate Jenny - 2018 Producer
  • The Glamazons – Movie Star - 2016 Director/Producer
  • AJ Baby - Mattioli Productions - 2015 Director/Producer
  • Sherry Vine - I'm Jappy - 2016 Director/Producer
  • Sherry Vine featuring Pepperment - Musical Melody - Director/Producer

Awards and nominations

AJ won “Best Comedy Director” and “Best Comedy Film” for his film Lady Peacock at the Atlantic City Film Festival in 2014.[8]

AJ Mattioli’s film BIdenttity Crisis won several awards in 2011 at the Downbeack Film Festival in Atlantic City in different categories such as, Best Producer in a short film, Best Director in a short film and Best actress in a comedy short (Elissa Goldstein)[11]

AJ Mattioli won "Best Director of a Feature Documentary" for the documentary Words: An Exploration of Identity at the 2016 Atlantic City Cinefest.[1] Words also won "Audience Award for Best Documentary" at MEDff.[1]

According to The Advocate magazine, AJ is considered to be one of “40 People Under 40 to Look Out For”[11]

In addition, the Huffington Post in 2017 named AJ Mattioli one of the top "10 Trans Filmmakers You Should Know".[2]

  1. Gunz, Rafaella (2017-05-10). "Meet the trans filmmaker taking the world of documentary by storm". gaystarnews.com. Gay Star News. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
  2. Zosherafatain, Tony (2017-08-16). "10 Trans Filmmakers You Should Know". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  3. "Chaz Bono, Anthony Fedorov, Matt Leisy, Brian Charles Rooney Set for Broadway Sings for Pride Concert". TheaterMania.com. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  4. "Killer Unicorn". Indiegogo. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  5. "AJ Mattioli on Fearless". Fearless. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  6. "With Fearless Network (Sorted by Popularity Ascending)". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  7. "Gay Positive: Greg Dyrsten's doc informs public of the ban on gay men donating blood". 2013-09-23. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  8. "mattioli-productions". mattioli-productions. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  9. "Words: An Exploration of Identity". Kickstarter. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
  10. "A.J. Mattioli". IMDb. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  11. "DAILY FILM FORUM". www.dailyfilmforum.com. Retrieved 2018-02-13.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.