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Matt Wolf

Matt Wolf

Director, producer and writer, also actor · Born May 11, 1982 (44) · San Jose, California, USA

2 Primetime Emmys · 5 other major award bodies

Matt Wolf is a filmmaker in New York. His award-winning documentaries have played widely in festivals and have been distributed internationally in theaters and on television. Matt’s features include Wild Combination about the cult cellist and disco producer Arthur Russell, Teenage about early youth culture and the birth of teenagers, Recorder about the activist Marion Stokes, who secretly recorded television 24 hours a day for 30 years, and Spaceship Earth about Biosphere 2, a controversial experiment where 8 people lived quarantined inside a replica of the planet.

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Biography from TMDB.

Born
May 11, 1982 (44)
From
San Jose, California, USA
Works as
Director, producer and writer, also actor
Titles
7 on MovieCove · 15 credits in all
Links
IMDb (opens in a new tab)TMDB (opens in a new tab)Official site (opens in a new tab)Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Known for

TMDB popularity, last 156 days to Oct 27Down 4% in 30 days

What are Matt Wolf's films like?

Across their 7 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Self and Society.

Themes

share of theme weight
Self
33%
Society
32%
Ideas
18%
Power
11%
Survival
6%
Community3 titles, browse their movies with this themeLegacy3 titles, browse their movies with this themeIdentity2 titles, browse their movies with this theme

What they feel like to watch

their average across 5 films
ToneFeelDemandtheir average · filled zone: the category
Grounded: How far its world departs from everyday reality. Browse their grounded movies.
Tone · Style
naturalisticheightened

Grounded 3 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1

Charged: How hard the emotional peaks hit while you watch. Browse their charged movies.
Feel · Intensity
gentleintense

Gentle 2 · Charged 3 · Intense 0

Steady: How much it swings between very different feelings. Browse their steady movies.
Feel · Swings
steadyswings

Steady 4 · Shifting 1 · Whiplash 0

Straight-faced: How much of the runtime is played for laughs. Browse their straight-faced movies.
Feel · Humor
noneconstant

Straight-faced 4 · Some laughs 1 · Funny 0

Slow burn: How fast it moves from scene to scene. Browse their slow burn movies.
Demand · Pace
slowrelentless

Slow burn 5 · Even-paced 0 · Relentless 0

Engaged: How much focus it asks of you — look away and lose the thread? Browse their engaged movies.
Demand · Attention
casualfull focus

Casual 1 · Engaged 4 · Full focus 0

Open-ended: How much is left for you to interpret. Browse their open-ended movies.
Demand · Resolution
resolvedambiguous

Resolved 2 · Open-ended 3 · Ambiguous 0

Moods and endings

endings are an aggregate; no title is named

Dominant moods · mentions across their titles

Contemplative
6
Melancholic
4
Hopeful
4
Bittersweet
3
Triumphant
1

How their films linger

Bittersweet4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteThought-provoking3 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteHopeful4 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteRousing2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertasteWistful2 titles, browse their movies with this aftertaste

How their films end

  • Bittersweet4
  • Ambiguous3

AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.

Where can I watch Matt Wolf's films?

As of October 24, 2026, 6 of their 7 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.

Also on these channels

Subscription and free streaming for Matt Wolf's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.

Filmography

15 credits, 7 with a MovieCove page; 1 appearance as themselves is hidden until asked for.

  • Pee-wee as Himself(2025)

    Show 2 episodes · Director · Executive Producer · as Self - Documentary Director

    Midcredits score: 97th percentile of all shows

  • The Stroll(2023)

    Producer

    Midcredits score: 84th percentile of all films

  • Another Hayride (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2021)

    Director · Producer

  • Spaceship Earth(2020)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 59th percentile of all films

  • Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project(2019)

    Director

    Midcredits score: 76th percentile of all films

  • The Town I Live In (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • Bayard & Me (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2017)

    Director

  • The Face of AIDS (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2016)

    Director · Editor

  • I Am Rebel(2016)

    Show 4 episodes · Executive Producer · Writer

    Midcredits score: 38th percentile of all shows (provisional, few ratings)

  • It's Me, Hilary: The Man Who Drew Eloise (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2015)

    Director

  • Teenage(2013)

    Director · Writer

    Midcredits score: 60th percentile of all films

  • I Remember: A Film About Joe Brainard (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2012)

    Director · Producer

  • High Line Stories (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)(2009)

    Show 10 episodes · Director

  • Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell(2008)

    Director · Producer

    Midcredits score: 89th percentile of all films

  • Soaps (not in the MovieCove catalog yet)

    Director · Producer

Career shape

A full career of 15 titles, 14 of them dated from 2008 to 2025.

Biggest box office

Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project (2019)

$56K worldwide

Highest rated

Pee-wee as Himself (2025)

Midcredits 97th

By role

only this rolewith another role
Directing13 of 15: 5 only directing, 8 with another role · typical Midcredits score76thWriting2 of 15: 0 only writing, 2 with another roleProducing8 of 15: 1 only producing, 7 with another role · typical Midcredits score84thEditing1 of 15: 0 only editing, 1 with another role

15 titles, 9 with more than one role — directing and producing overlap on 6 of them.

By decade

2000s2 · crew2010s8 · crew2020s4 · crew

Counts from TMDB across their full career, self appearances out; a title counts in every role they held on it. The ring is the typical Midcredits score (the median percentile) of the role's titles that are on MovieCove, shown from 5 scored.

Awards

2 Primetime Emmys and 2 other major awards from 9 major nominations, 2008–2026.

WinNomination
  1. 2026
    • Directors Guild Award, nominated · Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary Series / News
    • Producers Guild Award, won · Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
    • Independent Spirit Award, won · Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
  2. 2025
    • Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program
    • Primetime Emmy, won · Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special
  3. 2020
    • Sundance award, nominated · Documentary
  4. 2017
    • Sundance award, nominated
  5. 2015
    • Sundance award, nominated
  6. 2008
    • Berlinale award, nominated · Best Documentary Film

Major bodies only: the Oscars, Primetime Emmys, Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards are named; Cannes, Venice, the Berlinale, Sundance, the directors', writers' and producers' guilds, the Grammys, Critics Choice and the Independent Spirit Awards count as other major bodies. Festival and regional prizes are not counted. Source: IMDb.

How do Matt Wolf's films land?

Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 76th percentile, the median of all 5; across their 5 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 73rd percentile for acclaim.

Acclaim · how much people like their films

73rdpercentile
Typical film, the median of 5

Approval · how many liked their films

77thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 5

Reach · how many have seen their films

59thpercentile
Typical film, the median of 5

Midcredits score across 7 titles, by percentile

  • 75th and up4
  • 50th to 74th2
  • 25th to 49th1

Shape of the crowd

3 of their 7 titles are Crowd Pleasers.

  • Universally Loved1
  • Divisive1
  • Crowd Pleaser3
  • Broadly Agreed1
  • Mixed1

Most divisive · writer, producer

I Am Rebel (2016)

91st percentile spread · 39% rated it 4 or lower

Most loved · actor, director, producer

Pee-wee as Himself (2025)

Midcredits 97th · 93% liked

Reviewers score the atmosphere 73/100 and the pacing 53/100 in their films, across 4 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a director.

Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.

Who does Matt Wolf work with?

People who share at least 2 of Matt Wolf's MovieCove titles, grouped by what they did on them; Kyle Martin shares the most, 4.

Composers

Producers

Mixed roles