Meet Matthew Hunter of MMH Productions

Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Hunter.

Hi Matthew, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was interested in the film business starting in 7th grade. My English teacher wanted us to write a story and we got extra credit if we filmed it and I was the only one to record something which was a Puppet Master fan style film. After that, I tried making another film but it fell through since my actors (my cousins) didn’t want to keep filming so we stopped.

In my high school, they had programs at Cuyahoga Valley Career Center and one of them was Film and Media for both Junior and Senior year. I would go to my high school half the day and then CVCC the other half of the day. I then got my hands on real film equipment and was able to shoot my first film, Apples which was only 5 minutes but it did get into a festival the year after.

In the summer of 2017, I created my first feature film, Darkside Stories which became an Award Winning Film at the Spotlight Horror Film Awards. I won the Bronze Award for high artistic ability and that then made me an award winning filmmaker at 17 years old. I then wanted to an open casting for my next short, Nightmares Unleashed and after the castings, some people stayed after and we all hung out and made a simple short in my basement which we called a Guerilla Film. We started a small group and called ourselves the Guerilla Filmmakers and we made a new short film every weekend over the course of the summer in 2017 and 2018 and the last summer wasn’t every weekend but it was in 2019 and sadly that whole group is no linger with me or my company.

So, Guerrilla filmmaking refers to a form of independent filmmaking characterized by ultra-low micro budgets, skeleton crews, and limited props using whatever resources, locations and equipment is available. Often scenes are shot quickly in real locations without any warning, and without obtaining filming permits. Which I still have created films and art without getting location release forms for my films but some films I do get location rights.

When covid struck fully, I never stopped making films throughout the course of the Covid-19 first year it was year. We made a film with a 10+ people cast and add their family and crew and it was big. We also created a lot more shorts in 2020 and 2021 also. We never stopped shooting and we wouldn’t for anything with my main new crew/cast. I do thank covid as well since it created a new industry for me for making films and having filmmakers from around the whole join in as well. I made a lot of new filmmakers who are my friends now from California, Florida, and even Ireland. It’s been a great year as well for MMH Productions and I can’t wait to see what the future holds.

At the moment, I have created over 150 films since 2017, majority are short films but I do have some features as well. We have one a bunch of awards and even more nominations as well and the only way else to go is up.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I think nothing has a real smooth road, I know I haven’t had such a smooth road as it used to be. With creating so many films every year and also working a job and also college the last 3 and half years so far, those things are what takes up most my time away from my moviemaking and company which is the biggest struggle to me personally.

I had a lot of people who were part of my group leave in early 2020 from a really stupid person saying false comments and luckily some new it was which stayed and still talk to me but majority fell through after that which was a struggle to begin with but I’m glad it happened since I found new and better people after since then and how I got one of my best pals as well so I’m grateful for that.

Of course, Covid was an uneven road but who didn’t have some rough moments during that.

Overall, things have gone smooth sailing for the most part which I am grateful for and can’t wait to see what else happens in the following year and this year as well.

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
My company/business is MMH Productions. Our motto is Bloody Horror with an 80’s Twist which is the majority of the films I create as well.

Some movies are comedy-horror or thriller-horror or even romance-horror as long as horror gets incorporated somehow, I am happy. The thing a lot of people know MMH Productions for is our Krampus Films. I like to create a new Krampus films every year with new cast each time also to bring new faces into the project. Another thing is blood, we have used a lot of fake blood on our sets as well which is always a fun mess for directing and also having the actors get ready for their blood shot haha.

One of the things we also do a lot of more then others is work well with kids on set. We have had some parents tell me that my film sets are always great and tell us how good I work and direct young stars in the industry which I love having kids on set since they are easy to work with for me personally which is how I also got into making a children’s TV show on YouTube where we teach kids and adults lessons, saying please and thank you, and explaining how to deal with divorce or death and many other life dealing issues you may come across in the future. I also enjoy as some our first time starting out and some actors in general have never been in a movie so our company creates roles for people and then get them out in the world of film for their first film being an MMH Productions film.

I’m most proud of creating some of the movies that then I place on DVD and then I get to show off the films to events and locations and that also gets an eye on my cast as well and hope they then land future roles as well too. Brand wise we have our Mascot, Bozo, he is a yellow clown that I got when I was 1 and is homemade. He has been in almost every film as an Easter Egg or has had a role in a film somehow either attacking someone or killing someone as well. I also am the voice of Bozo in any film he talks in.

I would love people to know that if anyone wanted to be in a film at any age or wants to help out or act, you can contact our company or myself about some info on the roles and we will get you in a movie!

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
I never risk anything that could hurt someone on set. Safety comes first for me. I go by Troma’s and Lloyd Kaufman’s 3 rules.

1) Safety to humans.
2) Safety to people’s property.
3) Make a good movie.

And I like to live by that. I never had someone really hurt on my film, I, however, do some stunts for people or when I am acting, I will take some risks, I have had my hair pulled, been slapped a few times, I have been whipped while tied to a chair and had marks afterword’s. But never had anyone else get hurt in a film in any type of way.

Risk taking is a big thing on safety but risks on films, we always try to do risky ideas to get a certain audience into the film or have eyes on a project like oooh, I never seen that or wow, this is sweet. We did a 48 Hour Horror Film and we did a shot inside the water while swimming with an actress, a 3D effect for the film, we combined every genre in the film 48 as well into a 7-minute short film. So we try taking film risks but it didn’t get us anywhere for the event.

Pricing:

• Short Films on DVD – $5
• Feature Films on DVD – $10
• 6 packs/8 packs/ 10 pack of films – $15 to $20

Contact Info:

• Email: hunter.matthew88@gmail.com
• Website: https://matthew5191.wixsite.com/mmhproductions
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mmh_productions/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matthew.hunter.108/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MMHProductions/

Image Credits
MMH Productions