Years active 1978–present Name Matia Karrell | Role Screenwriter | |
Other names Matia Karrel
Martia A. Karrell Occupation Film/television director, screenwriter Movies Behind the Red Door, Once Upon a Wedding, Cadillac Dreams Nominations Academy Award for Best Short Film (Live Action) Similar People Chuck Shamata, Rosanna DeSoto, Charlotte Ayanna, A Martinez, Hannah Lochner | ||
Matia A. Karrell is an American film, television and screenwriter. She is best known for directing the 1988 short film Cadillac Dreams, for which the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film.
Career
Karrell is a native of Boston, Massachusetts, born of Lebanese parents. She had aspirations to pursue a career as a dancer attending the dance program at Harvard University. She then moved to New York City, where she trained under dancers Hanya Holm and Martha Graham. She also performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) with Robert Wilson in The Dollar Value of Man
She then moved on to directing, working as an assistant director on a number of films during the 1980s, namely Matewan (1987) and Far North (1988). In 1988, Karrell made her head directorial debut with the short film Cadillac Dreams, for which the film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Short Film.
For much of the remainder of her career, she worked on episodic television, directing episodes of The Wonder Years, Doogie Howser, M.D., Parenthood, Sweet Valley High, The West Wing, American Heiress and Army Wives.
In 2003, she directed the film Behind the Red Door starring Kiefer Sutherland, Kyra Sedgwick and Stockard Channing. She was also a screenwriter on that film. Her other film credits include the 2005 film Once Upon a Wedding starring Esai Morales and A Martinez and the 2009 short film The Tub starring Melora Hardin and Dedee Pfeiffer.