Phil Matarese

Writer-director Phil Matarese turned doodles of his dog into an animation cult following. While working alongside creative partner Mike Luciano at a New York advertising agency, the duo began creating animation projects in their spare time. To practice on his new drawing tablet, Matarese created a webcomic about himself and his dog. The small projects led to the short film "Animals, Horses" (2012), which won Best Comedy Pilot at the New York Television Festival. That caught the attention of indie producer-director Mark Duplass who agreed to produce an expanded version of the project, pulling in celebrity friends such as Wanda Sykes, Danny McBride, and Jessica Chastain to provide voices. The resulting show, "Animals" (HBO, 2016-), was sold to HBO with Matarese and Luciano writing, directing, and voicing characters. Each episode focuses on different animals in New York City facing many of the same issues as their human counterparts. Aside from his HBO show, Matarese also wrote, directed, and animated the short "I Love You, Baby" (2013) where he imagined his existence in utero.