Clegg, 33, served as the cinematographer on the 2024 remake of “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” which was released in theaters earlier this month. The film, an R-rated comedy starring Jermaine Fowler, June Squibb and Nicole Richie, is an updated remake of the 1991 Christina Applegate classic.
This gig was Clegg’s first movie in Los Angeles, but he has been working mainly between New York and Atlanta on smaller indie films. He went to Florida State University to study film and moved to New York right after graduation to work. Making films since 2010, Clegg has mostly worked on independent features and shorts such as “Are We Not Cats” (2016), “Save Yourselves!” (2020) and “Socks on Fire” (2020).
With “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” Clegg and his team wanted to combine indie elements with pop styles, he said.
“We wanted to establish a really fun, entertaining camera language and visual style for the film,” he said. “So often these (kinds of films) go out of their way to be less interesting, less exciting, less accessible, so we wanted to try to bridge the gap between the indie aesthetic and something that’s kind of like pop.”
The lightheartedness of the film allowed Clegg to build relationships with the crew and cast, he said.
“It was a really fun project,” he said. “The director has become a really close friend and, during the preparation process, we became really close collaborators.”
Despite his “big break,” Clegg enjoys coming back to Richmond a couple of times a year, he said, and would love to work on a film based in the city.
“The film industry is organically growing in the area, so I’m hoping a project will bring me there sooner or later,” he said.
Clegg’s career is also growing; he has a film being released this summer at the Tribeca Film Festival. He is also working with Tyler Perry Studios on a new drama film, which he was unable to discuss.
“As a freelancer, you have to be sort of flexible with the opportunities that come,” he said. “(But) my dream project is a film that strives to be creative and inventive but humanistic at the same time, like something that is filmed in a pocket of America that is unseen and explores (that) culture.”
When he’s home in Richmond, Clegg loves visiting the James River, the Pipeline area, Carytown and local parks.
“I’m really proud to be (from Richmond),” he said.
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Here is a scene from “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead,” directed by Wade Allain-Marcus. Henrico High School alumnus Matt Clegg served as the cinematographer on the 2024 remake.
Matt Clegg, seen here working on a movie, has a film being released this summer at the Tribeca Film Festival. This year’s remake of “Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead” was Clegg’s first movie in Los Angeles; he has been working mainly between New York and Atlanta.