Biography
Matia Karrell is an American film and television director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Boston, Massachusetts, of Lebanese parents, she initially trained as a modern dancer, attending the dance programme at Harvard University before moving to New York, where she performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with Robert Wilson.
She began her film career as an assistant director on features including Matewan (1987) and Critters (1986). Karrell made her directorial debut with the short film Cadillac Dreams (1988), which she wrote, directed and produced; it received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film. Her television directing credits include episodes of The Wonder Years (1988), Parenthood (1990), Doogie Howser, M.D. (1989) and The West Wing (1999). She directed, co-wrote and produced the feature film Behind the Red Door (2003).
Karrell is a Fulbright Scholar and has received fellowships including the AFI Women Directors Fellowship and the Disney-ABC Directing Fellowship. She is a member of the Directors Guild of America and has taught graduate film at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.
