Matt Krentz

Matthew Scott Krentz: Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, the 32-year-old writer/director/producer surrounded himself with the most accomplished filmmakers in the world while working as an art director at Robert Redford's Sundance Filmmakers Labs for five summers. In 2005, MSK Films short film Ponteuse was eligible for an Academy Award, and Why Fish Swim in Schools was nominated for the Casting Society of America's prestigious Artios Award. In 2008 Ponteuse was sold to the Mini-Movie channel for distribution in Europe, Asia, and on the web. The Award-Winning Streetballers (Changed to American Streetballers by Warner Brothers in 2010) marks Matthew's first feature film. It is a story tackling subjects such as division, hardship, racism, and the beautiful ways we strive to make sense of this world around us. It is a heartfelt story about relationships and achieving goals. American Streetballers was eligible in the category of Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay for the 2010 Academy Awards. Its 2009 theatrical run was a success here in the U.S. and helped secure North American distribution from Warner Brothers. Streetballers hit the festival circuit making its World Premiere at The Hollywood Black Film Festival in Beverly Hills and went on to play in Saint Louis, Detroit, New York City, Nashville, Washington DC, North Carolina Philadelphia as well as others winning multiple awards such as Best Dramatic Feature, an Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film, Best Cinematography, and a Jury Award for Best Feature Film. In the meanwhile, Krentz and his writing/producing/directing partner Vernon Whitlock are finishing up their first Graphic Novel titled The Blaze Brothers (the first of a trilogy). Iconic comic book artist Marat Mychaels (Deadpool, X-Force, Brigade) and Glenn Fabry (Eisner Winner and legendary cover artist for Preacher and Hellblazer) are attached and creating killer pages. The Blaze Brothers Comic Book series will be released in the fall of 2012 with the complete Graphic Novel to follow. Together, Whitlock and Krentz started Blaze Brothers Entertainment in 2007. Their feature film script, titled The Blaze Brothers, won first prize for Best Action Script in the 2007 Fade In Magazine screenwriting competition (over 3,200 entries) and made the semi-final rounds of the 2008 Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting competition (the final 54 out of 5,200 entries). Blaze Brothers Entertainment plans to produce graphic novels, video games and feature films.