Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
Birthdate: Feb 19, 1978
Birthplace: San Francisco, CA
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin has evolved from being a punk rocker to a feature film director specializing in consistently and extremely profitable horror and genre films and franchises such as V/H/S and Scream. Bettinelli-Olpin’s first professional profile was as a member of the Bay Area-based punk group, Link 80, fronting on guitar, doing backup vocals, and co-writing lyrics. After leaving the band, Bettinelli-Olpin was a music journalist and then landed a job in the New Line Cinema mail room, where he formed the filmmaking collectives “Chad, Matt & Rob” in 2007 and then “Radio Silence” in 2011.
The first collective, with Chad Villella and Rob Polonsky, made a segment titled “10/31/98” for the feature, V/H/S (2012), with fellow directors Adam Wingard, David Bruckner, Ti West, Glenn McQuaid, and Joe Swanberg, grossing nearly $2 million or over eight times its original cost of $242,000. With co-director Tyler Gillett, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin made his directorial feature debut with Devil’s Due (2014), with Allison Miller, Zach Gilford, and Sam Anderson, and earning ($37 million) over five times the budget ($7 million).
The “Radio Silence” collective, with Bettinelli-Olpin, was a sole writer (and also co-star), made the segment, “The Way Out,” for the anthology horror feature, Southbound (2015), with fellow directors Roxanne Benjamin, Bruckner, and Patrick Horvath; the film grossed only $23,665 at the box office. Co-directors Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett led the hit black comedy-horror movie, Ready or Not (2019), with Samara Weaving, Adam Brody, Henry Czerny, and Andie MacDowell, grossing ($57.6 million worldwide) nearly ten times costs ($6 million) for distributor Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Bettinelli-Olpin served as a producer on the fourth installment of the V/H/S anthology franchise, V/H/S/94 (2021), co-directed by Jennifer Reeder, Chloe Okuno, Simon Barrett, Timo Tjahjanto, and Ryan Prows, with the new feature’s strong critical and audience reception confirming a sequel, V/H/S/99, for which Bettinelli-Olpin again served as producer.
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin made a major leap forward as a feature film director as co-director (again with Gillett) of his first major studio production, Paramount’s highly anticipated relaunch of the Scream series, with Scream (2022), co-starring Melissa Barrera, Mason Gooding, Jenna Ortega, Jack Quaid, Courtney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell, and earning a robust $140 million worldwide gross on a $24 million budget. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett reunited as co-directors for the sequel, Scream VI (2023), with Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding, and Jasmin Savoy Brown.
Bettinelli-Olpin continued his work with the “Radio Silence” trio (including co-director Gillett and producer Villella) as co-director of the horror movie, Abigail (2024), co-starring Alisha Weir in the title role, Dan Stevens, Melissa Barrera, Kathryn Newton, Giancarlo Esposito, and Matthew Goode, and released by Universal Pictures.
Gallery
Personal Details
Matt Bettinelli-Olpin was born and raised in Oakland, California. His lower education was at Chabot Elementary School, Claremont Middle School, and Bishop O’Dowd High School. Bettinelli-Olpin graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Filmography
director
Previous (2)
- 2024 |
- 2023 |
actor
Previous (3)
- 2022 |
- 2019 | Ready or NotasDirector
Ready or Not
A bride's wedding night takes a sinister turn when her eccentric new in-laws force her to take part in a terrifying game.
- 2014 | Devil’s Due
Devil’s Due
After a mysterious, lost night on their honeymoon, a newlywed couple finds themselves dealing with an earlier-than-planned pregnancy.
Some Facts About Matt Bettinelli-Olpin
Punk Rocker: As a co-lead of the group, Link 80, Matt Bettinelli-Olpin worked on five recording releases between 1995 and 1997.
Guerilla Filmmaker: Bettinelli-Olpin, with fellow aspiring filmmakers Chad Villella and Rob Polonsky, would stay after a day’s work at New Line Cinema and use the company’s office assets for their short films.
Viral: The online series, “Interactive Adventures,” made by Bettinelli-Olpin, Villella, and Polonsky, reached over 100,000,000 views.
