Matthew Leutwyler

In 2000, Matthew Leutwyler co-founded Ambush Entertainment; a Los Angeles based independent film development and production company, with the philosophy of producing a wide range of original and diverse feature films. Matthew Leutwyler was born in San Francisco, where he studied film at the San Francisco Art Institute. Matthew's first feature film, the black comedy Road Kill (1999), was produced on a $180,000 budget. The Daily Variety called Road Kill (1999) "A breezy entertaining ride...A jaunty trip with a good balance of dark comedy and legitimate drama." Road Kill premiered at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival where it won the Audience Choice Award for best feature film.After leaving The Bay Area and moving to Los Angeles, Leutwyler co-founded Ambush Entertainment. His first film for the company was the award winning comedy-horror-musical Dead & Breakfast (2004) starring, Jeremy Sisto, Erik Palladino, Portia de Rossi, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Ever Carradine. Since then, Ambush has exec-produced 2005's award-winning critically acclaimed drama _The Squid and the Whale_; produced the sexually charged comedy _The Oh In Ohio_, starring Parker Posey, Paul Rudd, and Danny DeVito; the sci-fi horror Unearthed (2007); and the comedy Lower Learning (2008) with Eva Longoria, Jason Biggs, and Rob Corddry. Subsequent films include: Against the Current (2009), with Joseph Fiennes, Mary Tyler Moore and Justin Kirk, which Premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by IFC Films; the Matthew Broderick and Sanaa Lathan drama Wonderful World (2009), distributed by Magnolia Pictures; and Every Day, written and directed by Richard Levine (Nip/Tuck (2003) ) and starring Helen Hunt, Liev Schreiber, and Carla Gugino which made its World Premiere at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival and was recently acquired by Image Entertainment for a Fall 2010 release. The company's latest film, the action comedy _Super_, starring Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Liv Tyler, and Kevin Bacon, wrapped production and is expected to be completed in late Summer 2010.Leutwyler's latest directorial endeavors include the adaptation of the acclaimed novel The River Why (2010) starring William Hurt, Zach Gilford, Amber Heard, and Kathleen Quinlan and the ensemble drama Answers to Nothing (2011), starring Dane Cook, Elizabeth Mitchell, Julie Benz, and Barbara Hershey in post production summer 2010.Matthew has also been directing short form work including spots for Chevrolet and most recently a Coke Zero commercial that was a cross promotion with the film Avatar.Outside of his career as a filmmaker he has worked as a mentor with the Los Angeles based non-profit The Fulfillment Fund, and as an industry professional volunteer working with East Los Angeles youths on short film productions for the Youth Employment Internship Program (YEIP). Show less «