Matthew Akers

Matthew Akers (born November 19, 1975) is an American film director, producer, cinematographer, and photographer. He is best known for the critically acclaimed documentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present,[1] (2012) for which he won a Peabody and Emmy Award. He recently directed two primetime ABC television specials for David Blaine, Real or Magic (2013) and Beyond Magic (2016), which featured Blaine performing magic for various celebrities and public figures.[2]

Matthew Akers
Born (1975-11-19) November 19, 1975
Dallas, Texas, U.S.
OccupationDirector, producer, cinematographer
Years active2000–present

Early life and education

Akers was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. He studied fine art and sculpture at the School of Visual Arts.[3]

Career

Akers has shot and produced over a dozen documentary television series, including the 10-part series Carrier (2008) during which he lived on an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf for six months, and Circus, (2010) in which he spent a year on the road traveling with the Big Apple Circus.[4]

In 2010 he was approached by his friend and producer, Jeff Dupre, to make a film about the performance artist Marina Abramovic.[5] He was skeptical at first,[6] but Abramovic gave him the keys to her apartment and full access to document her life in the months leading up to her performance at The Museum of Modern Art.[7] 'The show became an art world and pop culture phenomenon, as hundreds of people lined up for hours for a chance to sit with Abramović – the 'grandmother of performance art.'[8]

The film itself is a "mesmerizing cinematic journey inside the world of a radical performance artist who draws no distinction between life and art."[9] The New Yorker called the film an "epic in its own right," alluding to the fact that Akers logged some 1400 hours of footage, before editing it down to 105 minutes.[10] The film offers an inside look at the exhaustive process involved in successfully producing an artistic performance of such a grand scale, and attempts to bring Marina's art to the masses.[11]

Filmography
YearTitleDirectorWriterCinematographerProducerNotes
2000 EGG, The Arts Show Yes
2008 Carrier Yes
2010 Circus Yes Yes
2012 Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present Yes Yes
2013 David Blaine: Real or Magic Yes Yes Yes Yes
2016 David Blaine: Beyond Magic Yes Yes Yes Yes Executive producer

References
  1. https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/movies/marina-abramovic-the-artist-is-present-a-documentary-on-her-life.html
  2. Highfill, Samantha. "David Blaine returns to television with celebrity-filled ABC special". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  3. Harris, Brandon. "Director Matthew Akers on Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present - Filmmaker Magazine". filmmakermagazine.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  4. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/03/arts/television/03circus.html
  5. "Matthew Akers on Capturing Marina Abramović". interviewmagazine.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  6. "HBO: Marina Abramovic The Artist is Present: Interview". HBO. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  7. "At the Present Time: Matthew Akers on 'Marina Abramovic'". documentary.org. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  8. "Silverdocs '12: "The Artist Is Present" director Matthew Akers". realscreen.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  9. Indiewire Staff. "Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmakers #5: Matthew Akers, 'Marina Abramović The Artist is Present' - IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  10. "Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Once Again Present". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
  11. "Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present Matthew Akers". exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2 July 2017.
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