Talking Dog

Matt Cascella was a hyperactive child, with fits of singing and laughter amplified by an untethered attention span. Teachers didn’t like him, and coaches even less. Thankfully when he was 12 years old, a mini DV camcorder fell into his hands and he was immediately lovestruck. A way to channel his hyperactivity, filmmaking became an anchor. After many scrappy short films and a BA in Directing from the School of Visual Arts in NYC, Matt stumbled into the wonderful world of documentary at Maysles Films in Harlem, where he had the pleasure of getting yelled at by Albert Maysles for bad boom operating.

Since then, as Editor and Story Producer, Matt's work has been nominated for two Emmys (Netflix's Long Shot and ESPN's Run Mama Run) and a Critic's Choice Award (The Atlantic Selects' The Unconditional), and has premiered at Sundance (I Am Yup’ik / 2016), Tribeca (Run Mama Run / 2017 & ESPN’S Enhanced / 2018), and Telluride (Long Shot / 2017). His commercial directing credits include MoMA, Ancestry.com, and the Maine CDC. His most recent short, Talking Dog, premiered at the Camden International Film Festival and was a Vimeo Staff Pick.

Hangdog is his first feature, which he co-created with his wife, Jen Cordery, who just so happens to be his favorite writer.