Gavin Matts spends nights in New York comedy clubs and days auditioning for acting roles
Vancouver native Gavin Matts feels right at home in New York.
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'I just like the walking and the city life. In terms of being a comedian, it kind of feels the same as it did when I was starting out in Vancouver, when I was going to the Comedy Mix every night and just trying to get up as much as possible,' said the 30-year-old who has called N.Y. home for seven years.
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Now Matts, who was named to Vulture Magazine's list of ' Comedians You Should and Will Know' in 2024, frequents Big Apple comedy clubs like the Comedy Cellar and Standup NY.
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'I'm out every night. So that's pretty much my life,' said Matts, who has been doing standup for 12 years.
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When he isn't onstage in a club, Matts is busy auditioning for acting roles. He has been in a few short films and shown up in the TV series Ramy and the feature film Easter Sunday. His most notable turn as of late has been as Elliot, one of the writers in the writer's room for Deborah Vance's (Jean Smart) new late-night talk show on the popular HBO (Crave in Canada) series Hacks, which wraps its fourth season on May 29.
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'A lot of comedians that I talked to had taped auditions for it,' said Matts about the Hacks' role. 'It's kind of nice to be on the receiving end of, 'Oh, you got that,' because it's happened to me so many times. I've done hundreds of auditions and this is definitely the longest I've been on a show. It's nice that it's a show about comedy on TV.'
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A show about relationships, Hacks is focused on Vance, an iconic Las Vegas-based standup comedian who is looking to reinvent herself into a relevant voice of the times. To help her freshen her act, she hires Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder), a Gen Z comedy writer. The two slowly bond and butt heads. This current season has the two at odds as Daniels runs the writing room for Vance's new show.
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The show is a darling of the critics and has won multiple Golden Globes and Emmy Awards.
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'The show is very funny. (It's) the only show that I'm actually straight-up laughing at that is a narrative TV comedy,' said Matts. 'Just being a part of something that is actually funny is rare … I don't have to lie and be like, 'I like the show,' because I genuinely do.'
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Matts said while shooting the show and watching Smart, whose performance in the series has earned her a pair of Golden Globes and an Emmy, he had to remind himself he was an actor in the series not an audience member with a great seat.
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'I was like, 'Oh yeah, I am having to listen to her as an actor,' ' said Matts. 'She's coming off an Emmy. She had just done SNL, like, two nights before, and she's delivering this monologue perfectly. I had to be like, 'OK, active listening. I'm acting right now, and I'm not just mouth agape,' because I caught myself with my mouth a little open, being like, 'Oh, damn, I get to be a part of this,' which is awesome.'
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Cision Canada
17 hours ago
- Cision Canada
NETWORK MEDIA GROUP ANNOUNCES 2025 SECOND QUARTER RESULTS
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We are encouraged by the support of our expanding network of partners and grateful for the critical acclaim and award recognition we are receiving in the marketplace, most recently with this month's Emmy nomination for our Sly and the Family Stone feature documentary, Sly Lives! (aka The Burden of Black Genius)." Key metrics for Network's six months ended Q2 2025 include the following highlights: Backlog of $8.5M with $5.9M to be recorded in the next six months and $2.6M beyond seven months; Revenues of $2,517,033 (Q2 2024 - $5,135,785); Net loss of $478,500 - $0.03 per share (Q2 2024 Net loss of $1,360,744 - $0.08 per share); and Adjusted EBITDA loss of $37,476 - $0.01 per share (Q2 2024 Adjusted EBITDA loss of $699,925 - $0.04 per share). Operational highlights for the quarter include: Continued production on four feature-length documentaries and a five-episode documentary series. Our Brats feature documentary, directed by original Brat Pack member Andrew McCarthy, in partnership with NEON and ABC News, received significant recognition at the 2025 Webby Awards, winning in two categories: Webby Winner – Video & Film: Documentary People's Voice Winner – Video & Film: Documentary Strategic distribution announcement with Elevation Pictures for the Canadian distribution of our I Am feature documentaries, commencing with three new highly anticipated titles, I Am Luke Perry, I Am Raquel Welch and I Am Joe Frazier, which premiered on Crave on June 9 th, June 16 th, and June 23 rd, respectively. 1"Adjusted EBITDA" is calculated based on EBITDA (known as earnings/loss before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) plus share-based payments expense, finance costs (income), foreign exchange gain (loss), and losses and other items of an unusual nature that do not reflect ongoing operations. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are commonly reported and widely used by investors and lenders as an indicator of a company's operating performance and ability to incur and service debt, and as a valuation metric. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are not an earnings measures recognized by IFRS and therefore do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Therefore, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers. 2 The Company uses the non-IFRS measure "backlog", which is defined as the undiscounted value of signed agreements for production services for work that has not yet been performed, but which the Company expects to recognize revenue in future periods. 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Network Entertainment is a creatively driven, boutique film, television, and digital content production company that creates, finances and produces award-winning programming for television, digital platforms, and movie audiences around the world. The Network premium brand of content delivers world-class casts and features visually cinematic, richly crafted storytelling. The Company's productions are consistently embraced by both audiences and critics alike, garnering awards, record ratings, and unparalleled media coverage for Network and its partners. For additional information on Network Entertainment Inc., visit Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release. 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CTV News
a day ago
- CTV News
Quebec Emmy-nominated cinematographer on how she created the ‘Severance' world
Quebecer Jessica Lee Gagné was nominated for two Emmy awards for her work on the hit TV show Severance. Jessica Lee Gagné put much of herself into her directorial debut in season two of the critically acclaimed television series Severance – even filming the episode in her own home. The cinematographer earned two of the show's 27 Emmy nominations – for outstanding directing and outstanding cinematography in a drama series – in June. Though Gagné submitted her work in the past, she was finally recognized for projects she felt especially passionate about. 'What I find really beautiful is that I gave myself a chance and there's something that came back from it,' she said. 'The fact that I followed my heart and did something that I really felt connected to means a lot more. It just makes me want to do it again!' Severance Dichan Lachman as Gemma Scout in Severance. (Courtesy Apple TV+) Severance follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott) and his work at Lumon Industries, where employees have undergone a procedure that surgically divides their memories between their work and personal lives. Scout soon finds himself at the centre of an unravelling mystery, raising questions about 'work-life balance,' the true purpose of Lumon Industries and the human mind itself. Inside the 'innie world' Gagné's cinematography earned her nominations for the Canadian Screen Award in 2015 and the Filmfare Awards in 2018. She is the first woman to be nominated for both outstanding directing and outstanding cinematography for a television drama series. Severance received the most nominations of any show this year, almost double the 14 nominations it got for its first season in 2022. The show gained traction for its bizarre explorations of memory and the subconscious, highlighted especially through the show's unique visual language developed by Gagné. READ MORE: Jessica Lee Gagné is the Quebec visionary behind the hit series Severance Gagné, originally from Quebec City, has been praised by viewers and colleagues for her technical prowess and creativity behind the camera. She previously said she first hesitated to jump on a project filming primarily in an office, a classically bland and sterile space. Thanks to Gagné's use of sets, lighting and colour, the Lumon offices grew into a stunning and Kafkaesque world of its own, complete with a goat pasture and a 200-piece marching band. When the second season aired last winter, viewers were blown away by its opening sequence, where Scott runs through seemingly endless white hallways. Gagné told CTV News she submitted the 'Hello, Ms. Cobel' episode for Emmy consideration, which earned her the cinematography nomination, in part because of the work that went into designing the hallway sequence. 'It really showed off the iconic language of the show, and that's probably the thing I'm most proud of,' she said. To create the dizzying maze and iconic 'oner,' Gagné needed the support of an entire team. 'We had to go back to the drawing board a lot,' she said. 'With the cameras travelling down a four-foot-wide hallway, there's a limit to what you can do with the laws of physics.' Even after meetings to tackle each part of the shot's design – cameras, gripping, lighting and visual effects – bringing it to life was another challenge. It included robotic arms that can move quickly and sliding cameras. 'You can have a shot in your mind but then making it real is the next level,' she said. 'We love those kind of robotic-style movements in the innie world, it's something we implemented in season one where the camera has a non-human approach to it. So this leaned into that idea even more.' Directorial debut earns Emmy nomination Gagné had wanted to direct since her days in film school at Montreal's Concordia University, and said 'Chikhai Bardo,' the season's seventh episode, called to her. She felt it was important for Gemma Scout's story to be told from a woman's perspective. The episode explores Gemma (played by Dichen Lachman)'s relationship with her husband Mark before the two undergo the severance procedure and her captivity at Lumon. 'I have favourite shots. I do love the shot where she goes into the miscarriage. It's a hard shot, but I feel there's something really beautiful there,' said Gagné. The episode was a turning point in the series and tore open the until-then limited scope of the Severance world. To make the distinction clear, Gagné decided to shoot on film for the first time in the series to invoke nostalgia and cue the audience in on the fact that they are watching memories replayed. 'There's a lot of things that make it stand out as an episode,' said Gagné. 'We're finally going in depth about what happened in the past, so many people wanted to know what happened there … When we see film, we just have that visceral reaction of it being something from the past, so it made that seamless.' Severance Adam Scott and Dichen Lachman as Mark and Gemma Scout in Severance's 'Chikhai Bard.' (Courtesy Apple TV+) Blending work and life Gagné describes the Severance aesthetic as being hyperreal, using strong contrast and lighting to heighten the characters and setting. She points to movies like Klute and The Ipcress File as films that influenced the Lumon world through their use of wide angles, long walking shots, and strange frames. She is also heavily inspired by photography. The second season's eighth episode brought Gagné back to Canada when they filmed in Newfoundland, and she said she was happy to have the opportunity to work with long-time collaborators and her 'local family.' 'That was pretty magical, to be honest,' she said. Severance Severance's 'Sweet Vitriol' episode was shot in Newfoundland. (Courtesy: Apple TV+) She keeps a piece of Montreal with her while working, from problem-solving on set to the brutalist architecture featured in Lumon Industries. 'I love how we make movies here,' said Gagné. 'I do miss working here.' While working on Severance, she rented an old house near the New York Hudson Valley, where most of the show is shot, which was 'kind of falling apart,' but she loved it. She had no idea it would eventually become Mark and Gemma's house. While brainstorming with the production designer for Chikhai Bardo, she was picturing bookshelves and paint chipping off the walls, he stopped her mid-thought and said, 'you realize we're going to shoot in your house.' Despite the challenge of adapting her living space to a television set, she said it made the work possible to have such easy access while being busy with other aspects of the series. 'I just knew that house so well. I knew how the light moved within it, I knew where to be and when inside the house and I could think of shots at home … it was kind of a gift of it coming to me,' she said. Gagné said she considers herself lucky to have had access to many resources and a high-calibre team for her first time in the director's chair. 'I am really proud of it,' she said. And she plans on taking it up again, this time on a feature-length erotic thriller she's currently writing.
Montreal Gazette
a day ago
- Montreal Gazette
Opinion: Many reasons to lament Late Show cancellation
Op Eds Was it 'purely a financial decision' for CBS to cancel the Late Show with Stephen Colbert? The network's top-rated late-night comedy was reportedly losing millions, and will wrap up next May. Even Daily Show host Jon Stewart, slamming the decision, conceded the genre is in decline: 'We are all basically operating a Blockbuster kiosk inside of a Tower Records.' Not surprisingly, skepticism abounds. It's not just that Colbert's show has earned 33 Emmy nominations, or that it has been the highest-rated late-night talk show on U.S. television for nine consecutive years. It's not even the dodgy timing of the announcement, coming just days after Colbert criticized CBS for settling a lawsuit by U.S. President Donald Trump, which attacked 60 Minutes over an interview with former vice-president Kamala Harris. OK, it is the timing, but that's not all. The problem is the broader climate of institutional capitulation: the trail of universities, law firms and news organizations rolling over to meet or anticipate the demands of a demagogue. Before Trump even took office, ABC coughed up $16 million to settle a defamation suit it should have fought. Skating behind that disastrous precedent, CBS failed to defend its flagship news show, 60 Minutes, against a spurious claim, at a time when its parent company, Paramount Global, happens to need federal regulatory approval for its $8-billion merger with Skydance Media. Colbert caught the axe two days after he told his audience he was 'offended' by Paramount's $16-million settlement, adding the technical name in legal circles was 'big fat bribe.' Pushback was immediate. Fans, fellow comedians and elected officials speculated Colbert was a political sacrifice. Sen. Elizabeth Warren already had opened an investigation into whether the settlement amounts to bribery. What's at stake is more than entertainment; it's media independence. The criticisms and witticisms of late-night comedy hold powerful people of all stripes to account, delivering context to audiences with a spoonful of sugar. The public outrage over Colbert is heartening, but it has an unfortunate downside. The groundswell of indignation is a useful tool to divert attention from Trump's former friendship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein, which has dominated the news for weeks, despite Trump's best efforts to make it disappear. Epstein's client list is a particular obsession of Republican conspiracists, who were long promised it would reveal a cabal of child-abusing Democrats. Interest intensified after Elon Musk tweeted Trump himself is in the Epstein files, inspiring a kind of spaghetti toss in the Oval Office. Trump has been flinging every kind of distraction at the wall, hoping something would stick. Bombing Iran pulled focus briefly, but the scandal bounced back, particularly when the Wall Street Journal reported on Trump's 'bawdy' contribution to Epstein's birthday book. A flurry of absurd presidential declarations about Coca-Cola ingredients, reverting team names to racial slurs, and threatening various arrests have fooled no one, including a fake, AI-generated video of former president Barack Obama being arrested by the FBI, shared on Truth Social. The irony writes itself. Now, Trump is lingering in Colbert's spotlight. ' I absolutely love that Colbert got fired. His talent was even less than his ratings,' he crowed with typical decorum. The real tell is that Trump is leaning into the controversy despite being implicated in bribery allegations. In a post, he not only took a victory lap about the Paramount settlement, but amped up speculation, noting he anticipates another $20 million in programming or advertising after the merger. Did the president invite speculation on network content concessions just to change the channel? To borrow a phrase from Colbert: it has the ring of 'truthiness.'
