Filmmaker
SUMMER OF 84
Summer, 1984. The perfect time to be 15 years old and free. But when neighborhood conspiracy theorist Davey Armstrong begins to suspect his police officer neighbor might be the serial killer all over the local news, he and his three best friends begin an investigation that soon turns dangerous.
Sundance Film Festival 2018
Writing and Producing “Summer of ‘84” was a dream-come-true from beginning to end. It started as a tiny seed of an idea — my writing partner, Steve, and I were riffing on the tried-and-true neighborhood paranoia thriller concept. We’ve all seen films like “Rear Window,” “Disturbia,” and “Fright Night” where the good guy wins., but to us, that outcome always seemed so unrealistic. So what if instead we created the grounded, real life version where we flip that on its head?
Enter “Summer of ‘84.”
Production began in Vancouver, BC in June, 2017. For 22 glorious days, a bunch of hardworking dreamers came together to create something they really believed in. It was an experience I’ll never forget — it was the first film I wrote that became a film.
The icing on the cake? “Summer of ‘84” was selected by the Sundance Film Festival to premiere in their Midnight section. What an honor.
“Summer of ‘84” is available now on Shudder and your video-on-demand platform of choice.
Horror Indie ‘The Knocking’ Completes Production in Los Angeles
by Matt Donnelly Sept 10, 2020
As film and television productions labor to get off the ground following months of coronavirus shutdowns, one horror indie has quietly wrapped a nearly four-week shoot in Los Angeles.
Co-directors Matt Leslie and Stephen Smith have completed “The Knocking,” a bloody tale of a serial monogamist that shot for 19 days amid intense coronavirus safety protocols.
Shiloh Fernandez (“Burn”), Doug Jones (“The Shape of Water”), Alexis Knapp (“Pitch Perfect” series) and Ser’Darius Blain (“Jumanji”) lead the cast. Leslie and Smith previously collaborated as writers on the gritty thriller “Summer of ’84,” which played in the Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight section. This is their first feature as co-directors. They wrote the script with Abiel Bruhn.
“The Knocking” follows a young man who tells his new girlfriend that he loves her for the first time — then finds himself next in line for a nightmarish curse that’s claimed all those boyfriends who have come before him.
Shakira Barrera, Zelda Williams, Chris Backus, Christine Ko, Neil Brown Jr., and J Alex Brinson round out the supporting cast. Eric B. Fleischman and Maurice Fadida produced the film, with executive producers Mickey Gooch Jr. and Diane Gooch, Victor Shapiro, Sylvain Gehler, Raphael Swann and Jan McAdoo. UTA is repping domestic sales on the pic.
“We’re extremely grateful for both our crew behind the camera, as well as the talent and their teams who not only were trusting of our process, but were willing and able to perform gracefully on set every day during this pandemic” Fadida said.
“We’ve been huge fans of Leslie and Smith’s since ‘Summer of ’84’ premiered at Sundance ’18. Their vision for this tale of love and horror will certainly make the film a crowd favorite, whether you’re single or taken,” added Fleischman.
Leslie and Smith are repped by APA, manager Jeff Portnoy, and attorney Marios Rush. Jon Hersh at Housefire Management handles Bruhn.
Fernandez is with Untitled, while Knapp is with management firm Roar. Blain is handled by Paradigm, Management 360 and Barry Littman. Jones, who famously portrayed the amphibian man in Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” is represented by Omnipop.