Matt Severson

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT MATT SEVERSON

Matt Severson is the Executive Vice President of Academy Collection and Preservation at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where he leads the stewardship, preservation, and strategic development of the Academy’s globally significant collection. His work spans the Academy Film Archive, the Margaret Herrick Library, and the Academy’s museum holdings—overseeing the care, conservation, and growth of these collections, as well as the preservation efforts that support them across the Academy Foundation. Matt began his Academy career in 1997 in the Photographic Archive. He was appointed Associate Director of the Archive in 2009 and, in 2018, became Director of the Margaret Herrick Library, where he helped steward and expand one of the preeminent research collections in cinema. He holds a Master’s degree in Film Studies from San Francisco State University and completed doctoral work in Critical Studies at the University of Southern California. His writing has appeared in numerous publications, and he served as editor of \"Agnès Varda: Director’s Inspiration\", the official exhibition catalog published by the Academy and DelMonico Books in 2023. Driven by a lifelong commitment to cinema, preservation, and cultural memory, Matt is focused on both safeguarding film history and advancing a more inclusive and expansive future for the Academy’s collections—ensuring they continue to inspire filmmakers, scholars, and audiences around the world.