Production house Backyard has signed director Matthew James Thompson for U.S. commercial representation. He has helmed work for such brands as Nike, Google, Jeep, Squarespace, Oreo, Hilton Hotels, Virgin Mobile and Dunkin Donuts. His branded film for Field Notes was praised for its emotive prowess and was awarded at the IAC, Addys and Hatch competitions. Thompson’s short-film projects have screened at the Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island Film Festival, Seattle Film Festival and Houston Worldfest.

Thompson first picked up a camera while making skateboarding videos in high school. His fascination with directing accelerated in college, where he created short films and music videos. Thompson broke into the ad industry as a director when he created a spec spot for the Boston Celtics that was noticed by the ad agency for the NBA team. Additional directorial opportunities quickly followed. Thompson co-launched NYC-based production company NORTH in 2010, where he served as a partner and director. In order to focus more on his directorial career, he has left the company he co-founded to join the roster at Backyard.

Thompson said of Backyard, “It’s a long-standing brand with a strong reputation that continues to evolve and modernize.  Backyard works with most of the top agencies and best brands in the business.  They are a great group of people too. This is a big step for me, and I’m looking forward to new creative opportunities in 2018.” 

Beyond commercials, Thompson recently released a short film A Hunting Incident, which is a prologue to a feature script that he’s currently developing. He was also commissioned by Future of Storytelling 2017 to create a film about the award-winning magician Derek Delgaudio. The short has earned Vimeo Staff Pick distinction. 

Chris Zander, managing director of Backyard, said, “As the creative landscape has evolved, we’ve seen more projects that need nimble, versatile directors who are capable of telling a wide range of authentic stories.  Matthew is part of this new breed.  His work is ultra-fresh and emotionally honest.”