The Unreachable Star

Passion for story and performance drives Matthew Halla to make movies. While impactful frames that convey emotion, metaphor, subtext and story are crucial, they fall flat without a strong story and great actors. Matthew ensures his workflow fosters creativity both in front of and around the camera, a lesson he learned while working for his MFA at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts, his time spent as a TV news photographer/documentarian, and by being an insatiable fan of American and world cinema.

Matthew’s cinematography journey began where he was born and raised – the San Francisco Bay Area. There, he honed his skills as a camera operator shooting TV news. He won three Emmy awards while shooting for investigative units at CBS San Francisco and NBC Los Angeles. This experience sharpened his ability to tell compelling visual stories from the perspective of diverse communities in the Bay Area and Southern California. In 2011, Matthew’s passion for cinematic storytelling led him to Los Angeles to attend USC, where he graduated with his MFA in 2015.

When longtime USC collaborator, Director Sharon Park, approached Matthew with the idea for The Unreachable Star, a short film about siblings in a Japanese internment camp based on Writer/Producer Kelsey Kawana’s grandfather’s experiences, they knew it was a challenging but necessary story to tell. Honoring the legacy of Kelsey’s grandfather and thousands of other Japanese Americans was paramount. With a small crew traveling 270 miles from L.A., using only available light, Matthew and his team navigated the obstacles of shooting in isolated areas with children, animals and extreme temperatures.

The practical yet creative approach allowed filming to be completed in 2.5 days, including a half-day at the Manzanar National Historic Site, one of the actual WWII internment camps. Filming at Manzanar added a profound connection between the story’s emotional depth and the visual elements, enhancing the actors’ performances as well as the crew’s voice in communicating the visuals. Matthew is honored to share meaningful stories like Kelsey’s grandfather’s, driving him to capture images of the highest quality and emotional weight.

Matthew loves to travel, ride his bicycle and enjoy good food with great people. He has shot eight independent feature films, many as repeat collaborations with directors he is fortunate to call friends.