The former American football player Matthew A Cherry's last film was a huge success. Hair Love began with a Kickstarter campaign that set a new record for a short film on the platform and went on to win the Oscar for best animated short in 2020.
The heartwarming story and beautiful animation broke stereotypical depictions of Black fathers and sparked a conversation about the beauty of Black hair. It even led to a spin-off TV series, Young Love, which debuted on Max in 2023.
Now Matthew is taking to Kickstarter again to raise funds for a new, more ambitious project. While Time Signature will also start as a short, its director aims to use it as a proof of concept for a feature-length time-travelling genre-hopping musical animation that explores questions of identity and creativity.
I asked Matthew about his inspiration for the project, the challenges of making an animated film today and why sport and art shouldn't be considered as such distinct worlds. If you're inspired and need the tools for your own work, see our guides to the best animation software and the best laptops for animation.
Matthew A Cherry talks animation, inspiration and his vision for Time Signature
Time Signature will follow the story of Melody, a teenage prodigy whose mother is unsupportive of her preparations to audition for a prestigious music school. In her attic, Melody discovers an unfinished piece of sheet music in her late grandmother’s piano, and this transports her through a series of time loops to defining musical moments from her family’s past.
The concept and early artwork suggest this is going to be a magical adventure with deep themes, so I was keen to learn more about Matthew's vision and how he will follow the success of Hair Love.
Like with Hair Love, Time Signature will explore the emotional highs and lows of creativity. Is this something you can relate to yourself?
Oh yeah, for sure. After a successful project – especially something like Hair Love winning an Oscar before I turned 40 – there’s a real pressure to top yourself. You want to show growth, prove that it wasn’t a fluke. And in that pursuit of perfection, I’ve definitely slowed myself down at times. There are projects I probably could’ve moved forward on that were solid, but I held back because they didn’t feel 'better than the last thing'.
On top of that, I tend to jump around a bit – if one project gets tough or gets bad feedback, instead of powering through, I sometimes pivot to the next shiny idea. And right now, the industry’s just not as wide open as it was even a few years ago. Getting jobs, getting greenlights – it's all harder. So yeah, the struggle to stay inspired, to stay steady, and to stay working is real. But it’s part of the creative journey.
Arts and sports are often treated like two separate worlds. Do you think that’s unfortunate?
Definitely. I lived both – played in the NFL and then transitioned to filmmaking – and I can tell you, the mindset overlap is huge. Sports and art are both about discipline, performance, vision, and emotion. But society often separates them, especially for young people.
With Time Signature, I want to show that creativity can be just as powerful and transformative as athletic success. And for Black kids especially, that’s a narrative we need more of.
Were you always a fan of animation? What were your biggest creative influences?
Always. Animation has a way of cutting through all the noise and hitting straight to the heart. As for influences, I look up to Spike Lee for his fearlessness and his innovation – he’s always pushing the medium. Barry Jenkins inspires me with his patience and perseverance. It took almost ten years between Medicine for Melancholy and Moonlight, and he’s always carried himself with humility and grace.
Jordan Peele has also been a huge influence. Working at Monkeypaw and watching him evolve into a titan – while still lifting others up – has been powerful to see.
On the music side, Janet Jackson’s early innovation is something I really admire. Same with Outkast, Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé, Jay-Z – all top-tier artists constantly evolving. That mix of discipline, vision and cultural resonance is something I strive for.
What makes animation — and an animated musical — the right medium for Time Signature?
Hair Love was more grounded. Time Signature leans into magical realism – it’s about time travel, music, memory, and healing. I describe it as Coco meets Back to the Future, but rooted in Black culture and modern music. Animation gives us the freedom to fully explore those emotional and fantastical layers.
We haven’t really had that modern Black animated musical yet. Soul was beautiful, but the lead was a ghost for most of it. Princess and the Frog had a similar issue. We haven’t had a story where a Black girl gets to be fully herself – expressive, creative, emotional – for the entire film.
That’s what Time Signature is doing. And because it’s a proof of concept, we also see this short as a launchpad to a larger feature. We’re hoping this Kickstarter helps us build momentum and show studios what this could be at scale. These days, it helps to show you can do something on your own – it opens doors for bigger support.
Hair Love sparked conversations about fatherhood and the beauty of Black hair. Do you hope Time Signature can similarly engage social narratives?
Definitely. This one is about legacy and healing. About mothers and daughters. About creativity and generational dreams. Time Signature is meant to ask: how do we support young creatives? How do we make peace with the past to move forward in the present? And how do we celebrate Black girl brilliance without asking it to shrink or apologise? I hope it sparks those conversations – in families, in classrooms, in the industry.
You’ve said Time Signature is about presence, not merely representation. What do you mean by that?
Representation means putting a Black girl in the lead. Presence means making her feel real – giving her full agency, vulnerability, joy, and genius. Melody isn’t just a character to check a box – she’s the heart of the story. The music she creates, the choices she makes, the emotions she goes through – it’s all centered on her journey. That’s what we mean by presence. She’s not here to symbolise something. She’s here to be.
Do you feel authentic Black and other marginalised voices are still underrepresented in animation?
Yes, absolutely. There’s still a long way to go. And the rollback of DEI efforts is honestly disheartening. Animation is how kids form ideas about the world – who gets to be the hero, who gets to be magical, who gets to be loved. So when those doors start closing again, it’s not just about jobs – it’s about imagination and identity.
What we did with Hair Love and Young Love shows that there's an audience hungry for authentic, joyful, nuanced Black stories. It’s frustrating to see that progress slowed, but it also makes independent projects like Time Signature that much more important. We have to keep creating and keep building our own tables when the system pulls chairs away.
Who are you working with on the art for Time Signature, and how does the visual style compare to Hair Love?
We’re working with Marcus Williams, who was a huge part of Young Love. He’s incredibly versatile and culturally specific in his approach. One of the things we really pushed in Young Love was capturing the full spectrum of Black life – different hair textures, body types, skin tones – and Marcus brought that to life.
We also have Ed Lee doing background and production design. He also worked on Young Love, and he’s incredible at capturing texture and era. Since Time Signature spans the 70s, 80s, 90s and is set in the late 2000s, it was really important to get those aesthetics right – not just in costume and setting, but in feel. Ed’s ability to create immersive, emotionally resonant environments has been key.
And my producing partner Monica Young is the backbone of this. Her taste level is impeccable, and she’s constantly pushing us to refine and elevate the work. She was a huge part of Hair Love, and continues to be one of the biggest driving forces in everything I do.
The Kickstarter campaign for Time Signature is live now.
For more animation news and inspiration, see Loewe's adorable anime ads, the new Thatcher's ad by Aardman and how we think Marvel could fix Disney's live-action remakes.
