New Twitter Statement Campaign Inspired by Matthew Cherry’s Oscar-winning Tweet – The Hollywood Reporter

“One day I will be nominated for an Oscar. Claimed it. “

It was a tweet that Matthew Cherry posted on June 2, 2012, expressing his dream of becoming an Oscar-nominated filmmaker. The call to space was answered – and upgraded – on February 9, 2020, when the professional filmmaker turned soccer player made his way to the Oscars stage to receive the cartoon monument. Best short for Hair love.

Cherry’s tweet led to another major milestone: He’s currently on a billboard.

Executives at Twitter were so inspired by his trajectory that they used it as inspiration for the platform’s most ambitious celebrity and athlete campaign by taking a series tweets and toss them on billboards in eight cities, including Los Angeles, New York, Toronto, and Chicago. Leslie Berland, Twitter’s chief marketing officer, posted “his was the first tweet we posted, along with the hashtag #TweetItIntoExistence. “Vision, confidence, clarity!”

Bold names that have made similar tweets come to fruition and are now featured on billboards include Megan Thee Stallion, Issa Rae, Simu Liu, Niall Horan, Demi Lovato, car racer Bubba Wallace, Kansas City star quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Tampa Bay Buccaneers rerun Leonard Fournette, WNBA star Diamond DeShields and blind gamer Steve Saylor. As a way to encourage users to manifest their dreams while helping some to come true in the process, Twitter is donating nearly $1 million to charities selected by celebrities. . To date, recipients have been Boys and Girls Club, Destination Crenshaw, 3-D Foundation and UNICEF Canada.

As he posted his original tweet, Cherry recently completed his debut performance, Last Autumn, about an NFL journeyman struggling to cope with life after retirement. The film stars Lance Gross, Nicole Beharie and Vanessa Bell Calloway. He explained, “I was at a place in my life where I was so excited that I had a movie but also a bit disappointed that it didn’t turn out as well as other filmmakers at the time. “At the time, it felt as if one or two Black filmmakers were being called to the big leagues. If you’re not one of those people, it means you’re back to normal and you have to come up with another idea or make another indie film. It left me feeling like I needed to motivate myself. ”

Twitter, his favorite social networking platform (where he currently has more than 314,000 followers), also feels like the perfect place to do it because he uses it almost like a diary to express thoughts, feelings, and ideas. “I want to remind myself that if you keep doing the work and doing what you have to do, it will eventually be recognized on a bigger stage.” After winning the Oscar, Cherry made many moves on stage, directing episodes of Black-ish, Mixed-ish, The Wonder Years, Save by the Bell, The Kings of Napa and Kenan. He is set to live feature Appearance starring Lil Rel Howery, Jermaine Fowler, and Keith Lucas, and he’s herding an animated series based on Hair love titled Young love for HBO Max. He also has a first deal with Warner Bros. Television Corporation.

When he received a call that Twitter wanted to run a campaign on his tweets, Cherry said he was shocked. “Normally as filmmakers, man, we’re behind the scenes, but to see the entire ad campaign on my favorite social media site, it’s insane,” explains Cherry, who said. add that sharing the shine with friends like Not safe Rae star. “I’m also excited to see all the other vocalists win as well. I remember the first time I saw one of the billboards – Demi Lovato’s ad literally hitting the high notes at the Super Bowl – it was really inspirational. I hope it inspires others the way it inspired me.”

Cherry expression next? “Create my own,” he says. “Hopefully getting a few feature films and trying to make some original animated TV shows and real people.”

.@MatthewACherry This is the start of this campaign. His was the first tweet we anchored on. Vision, confidence, clarity! Thank you Matthew for inspiring us all @LaraKate #TweetItIntoExistence https://t.co/xG0VQ4h6G4

– Leslie Berland (@leslieberland) January 18, 2022

A version of this story first appeared in the January 26 issue of The Hollywood Reporter. Click here to sign up.