Meet Matt Polizzi

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt Polizzi.

Matt, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
It’s been a long, slow, meandering path. I just know that I’ve always been obsessed with movies and with image making.

At the very beginning, I would make slideshows of photos I took around my neighborhood in Northern California or on family trips or whatever and then set the slideshow to music. It was like a little movie and it was like magic to me!

In college, I held an internship with a small production outfit in Oakland, CA called Verdict Digital. Here I got my first taste of the professional world of image making and I was inspired to try it on my own.

So, between 2012 and 2017 I had a bunch of random jobs to pay the bills (in restaurants, retail, hospitality, customer service) and I would get an occasional video gig just to make enough money to leave the country and travel for a month or 2. Once I was out of money I would come back to the states to work some more.

In 2017 I decided to pursue freelancing full-time. I was shooting and editing all my own stuff, but over time I found that I spent the majority of my time in the editing bay so that’s what I’ve decided to commit to full time, now.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
My biggest obstacles come from within. Obviously, I have high expectations for myself and for my work, and I have to be wary of falling into a perfectionist mindset. In the past this was crippling to my workflow and creativity and it took a long time to pull myself out of that space. These days I try to approach every project/task with the mantra: “create today, analyze tomorrow”. It’s always a process, but it keeps me on my toes.

We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I am a film & video editor. I specialize in narrative, music video and commercial editing. I pride myself on being a strong collaborator; accommodating and easy to work with.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Everyone that supports me deserves credit! My parents, my partner, my business/creative partners and I’m eternally grateful to Zach Heffner of Verdict Digital for hooking it up with professional knowledge and experience I never would have gotten anywhere else in the very beginning. Finally, thanks to my friend Austin Franks for the strength and inspiration to continue creating.

Contact Info:

• Website: mattpolizzi.com
• Phone: 4083135209
• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattypolizzi/

Image Credit:
Kasey Kostrub and David Walker

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