Matt Renner

As Vice President, Production, for National Geographic Partners, Renner serves as a lead creative within the senior production team, managing over 65% of National Geographic Channel's production slate, while overseeing the New York executive producer team. In addition to further developing the network's visual style, production practices and expanding the breadth of the network's producer pool, Renner has also been responsible for reinvigorating National Geographic's documentary feature business. In terms of feature documentaries, Renner most recently executive produced, THE CAVE -helmed by Oscar-nominated director Feras Fayyad (LAST MEN IN ALEPPO)- which premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival to critical acclaim (garnered the prestigious Grolsch People's Choice Documentary award) and at Camden's International Film Festival (nabbing a special jury mention in the Best Documentary Feature category while also taking home the Audience Award). THE CAVE is the name by which the Syrian community called the secret underground hospital (that may as well be post-apocalyptic), in the besieged city of Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus. The film's heroine is 29-year-old Dr. Amani Ballor. Elected as a hospital manager by her colleagues, Dr. Amani runs the Cave with unparalleled compassion and leadership. Indiewire: "it's a frantic, unnerving window into Syria's collapse, and a nerve-wracking thriller that alternates between acts of courage and utter despair; through that paradox, it captures the struggles on the ground in intimate detail." Last year, alongside award-winning directors Chai Vasharelyi and Jimmy Chin, Renner executive produced the multi-Emmy, BAFTA, and Academy Award winning documentary feature FREE SOLO. Among the awards, FREE SOLO nabbed multiple Critic's Choice awards, multiple Cinema Eye Honors, the awards for best sound editing CAS and Motion Picture Sound Editing, and Toronto International Film Festival's Grolsch People's Choice Documentary award. FREE SOLO also broke the documentary box office record for opening weekend set by Al Gore's The Inconvenient Truth in 2006. FREE SOLO is a stunning, intimate and unflinching portrait of the free soloist climber Alex Honnold, as he prepares to achieve his lifelong dream: climbing the face of the world's most famous rock -the 3,000ft El Capitan in Yosemite National Park-without a rope. Renner also executive produced the feature documentary LA 92, from Oscar winning directors Dan Lindsay and TJ Martin. The genre-busting archive driven film garnered two nominations from the International Documentary Association (IDA), an Emmy award for Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, and was shortlisted for an Academy Award in 2017. LA 92 presents a riveting look back at the tumultuous period of the 1992 Los Angeles riots through stunning and rarely seen archival footage. Renner's first film, HELL ON EARTH, from directors Sebastian Junger and Nick Quested, chronicled Syria's descent into the unbridled chaos that allowed for the rise of ISIS. With Hell on Earth, Renner garnered IDA's Courage Under Fire award and the duPont-Columbia Award, honoring excellence in broadcast and digital journalism in the public service. The duPont along with the Peabody rank among the most prestigious awards programs in all electronic media. Renner has pulled in Academy Award winning producer Fisher Stevens (THE COVE) and writer Mark Monroe (ICRARUS) to partner with Sebastian and Nick for a second film under the Hell on Earth banner, currently in production. For documentary series, Renner recently executive produced BRAIN GAMES, with Keegan Michael Key hosting, and THE WORLD ACCORDING TO JEFF GOLDBLUM --both series will premiere later this year on National Geographic Channel and Disney+, respectively. A few other highlights... Renner executive produced the cinematic event series ONE STRANGE ROCK, alongside Darren Aronofsky and his producing partners Ari Handel, Scott Franklin and natural history juggernauts Jane Root, Peter Lovering and Arif Nurmohamed. After debuting to critical acclaim, One Strange Rock nabbed a bunch of awards, including three of the UK's Wildscreen Panda Awards for music, editing, and innovation. The Panda is considered the UK's most prestigious natural history award. ONE STRANGE ROCK 2 is in now production. Last, Renner executive produced two seasons of MARS alongside Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, a six-part, genre-busting drama led documentary series; and after securing unprecedented access to the highest levels of our military, Renner executive produced CHAIN OF COMMAND, an immersive eight-part documentary series that captured the lives of men and women fighting extremism around the globe. Prior to joining National Geographic, Renner, the Primetime Emmy award-winning producer (DEADLIEST CATCH), and Producer's Guild Producer of the year (2011), founded his indie, Undertow Films in 2012. While at Undertow, Renner served as Co-CEO and Executive Producer and produced GAME OF ARMS, AMC's highest-rated nonfiction series; SHARK WRANGLERS for History Channel; and two seasons of AIRPLANE REPO for Discovery Channel. Prior to Undertow, Renner quickly rose up the ranks at Original Productions, where he served as one of the chief creative forces behind DEADLIEST CATCH, where in season six, he co-executive produced the team to its first Emmy for Outstanding Reality Program. Renner has produced and worked as on-air talent on Animal Planet's "Raw Nature." He also helped develop multiple series: Discovery Channel's "Swords," "Lobstermen: Jeopardy at Sea" and "Into the Firestorm" and TruTV's "Black Gold," to name a few. Renner holds a Bachelor of Arts in history from Colgate University, where he has guest lectured. He is also a member of the Academy of Arts and Television Sciences.