Five Questions with 11 Dollar Bill’s Matt Wade

What do Jay-Z, Magic Johnson, and The Great British Bake Off have in common? They’re all right here as 11 Dollar Bill Senior Editor and Creative Lead Matt Wade stopped by for a thoroughly entertaining round of Five Questions with SCREEN. Let’s get to it!

SCREEN: Thanks for stopping by, Matt! So tell us… Who is the most famous person you’ve ever met?

MATT: I met Magic Johnson in 2005 when the All Star Game came to Denver. It was a meet and greet type deal, but we got to go in early (can’t remember why) and talk with him for a little and shoot some hoops. Very nice guy.

Here’s the latest interview of Magic Johnson, on the air with Jimmy Kimmel…

SCREEN: So you are heading up 11 Dollar Bill’s office in Raleigh, North Carolina… Matt, if we have one day and one day only in Raleigh, what should we do?

MATT: I might not be the best tour guide, I just moved to Durham three months ago. But I’ll give it a shot! Start your day by grabbing some breakfast/coffee at Monuts (their brown butter donut is insane). Then head to the Eno Quarry, a little swimming hole where people bring tubes and coolers of beer. Then enjoy a burrito at Cosmic Cantina. Depending on your mood, either head to Kotuku Surf Club (dive bar) or the rooftop of The Durham Hotel (fancy cocktails) for a drink before heading to M Sushi for dinner.

Here is a look at that brown butter pepita donut that Matt adores…

SCREEN: If you could be a member of any musical group in history, what would it be?

MATT: I would be a member of the group that produced the album ‘Collision Course,’ which was a collaboration of Jay-Z and Linkin Park. So technically two groups? But it’s one of my favorite albums, and 16-year-old Matt listened to it endlessly on his Walkman, pretending to be in a music video starring out of the bus window…

SCREEN: Your greatest athletic achievement?

MATT: I was a pole vaulter in high school, but my greatest athletic achievement has nothing to do with pole vaulting. I injured my left elbow my senior year and couldn’t participate. So some friends and I joined the ultimate frisbee team. And we were so bad. The team was mostly made up of kids who didn’t play any other sports. It probably didn’t help that I only had one functioning arm. Going into our final week, we had lost every game by double digits. Never even came close to winning. But after a season of hard work and practicing plays, it all finally clicked. We ended up winning by one score and celebrated like we won the Super Bowl.

SCREEN: Your favorite commercial ever?

MATT: I really like the Nike ‘You Can’t Stop Us’ spot from a few years ago. It’s split screen the whole time and has matching motion across across every frame. Just a smart yet simple concept, executed to perfection.

Let’s take a look at the iconic piece…

BONUS QUESTIONS!

SCREEN: What is your most prized possession?

MATT: My Grandfather left me a few of his old cameras. I’ve always dabbled in photography but have recently found a lot of joy in shooting on his old 35mm. It’s a Minolta SRT-101, nothing fancy, but it makes me happy knowing it was his.

SCREEN: Best advice you’ve ever been given?

An editor that I used to assist for would constantly tell me to ‘have fun with it’ or some formation of those words. This taught me how to look at edits from non-traditional angles, and constantly try something new. It’s also a great reminder to try and enjoy the craft of making something.

SCREEN: What’s that TV show you’re a little embarrassed to admit you love to watch?

MATT: I feel no embarrassment about it, but my wife and I have recently gotten into the Great British Bake Off. We do a ‘fantasy draft’ at the start of each season. We go back and forth picking contestants after the first episode then we root for our team. We’ve watched 4 seasons that way and she somehow always wins 🙁

Let’s sink our teeth and taste buds an episode right now…

Thanks for playing, Matt! For the latest from the fine folks at 11 Dollar Bill, click right here.

Be sure to check back here at SCREEN Magazine for next week’s round of Five Questions with SCREEN. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.