Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie's Matt Johnson Shares His Secret to a Good Life

"Matt Johnson is the center of attention wherever he goes. He's especially popular in his hometown of Toronto, where his advocacy for young Canadian filmmakers and warm, self-referential humor have made him one of the city's most favored sons. Mayor Olivia Chow was in attendance when Johnson and his co-star/co-writer Jay McCarrol brought their film Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie back to Toronto for a TIFF Midnight Madness screening that Jonson calls "one of the foundational moments of my adult life.""

"After years of attending the festival, he "wanted so badly to share that same kind of joy with a group of people in Toronto," the culmination of a journey that began with Johnson's DIY debut feature The Dirties (2013), through the Sundance premiere of his second feature Operation Avalanche (2016) and into the commercial and critical success of his third feature, BlackBerry ( 2023)."

""I can understand how people might say, 'This is a scathing critique of media obsession,'" Johnson says of his alter ego. "What they don't understand is that I like these characters. I agree with them." He concedes that Matt's worldview is "psychotic, and I mean that medically," but argues that "everybody could use a little bit more of that. I think it would give all of us the kind of confidence that we need to do great things.""

Matt Johnson is a celebrated Toronto filmmaker known for advocating young Canadian filmmakers and a warm, self-referential humor. His career progressed from the DIY debut The Dirties (2013) through Operation Avalanche (2016) at Sundance to the commercial and critical success of BlackBerry ( 2023). Nirvanna the Band the Show the Movie adapts Johnson and Jay McCarrol’s Viceland series and web series, with both playing exaggerated, adolescent versions of themselves who pursue outrageous, naive, and dangerous schemes to get their band a show at The Rivoli. Johnson embraces these characters despite their extremes, calling the protagonist's worldview "psychotic" while arguing that a dose of that confidence can drive great achievements.

Read at Filmmaker Magazine