Funny Or Die Remembers Matt Villines

Funny Or Die lost a longtime friend over the weekend. Matt Villines, who, after a hard-fought struggle, finally succumbed to cancer. He was 39 years old.

Matt and his directing partner Osmany Rodriguez, or Matt and Oz as they were known to most people, joined our family early on and made some of our best videos. After working with us for nearly four years, they left to work for Saturday Night Live, a natural progression for two very talented people. Our hearts are broken today. Our love goes out to all the family and people closest to Matt.

About six months ago, I was talking to our cofounder Will Ferrell about Funny Or Die. As much as we love our little comedy company, we can be critical as well when we feel we aren ‘t being our best. Will says to me, “Why aren ‘t we doing more videos like that Dave and Jennie we did a few years ago? ‘ I agreed with him, but then I didn ‘t have an answer. I do now. Comedy is hard but every once in a while a special person comes along and makes it look easy. If you were ever on a set with Matt Villines, you knew he made it look easy.

Andrew Steele, Creative Director, Funny Or Die.

The Amazing Adventures Of Dave & Jennie

Brostitute with Tim Roth

Sense of Smell w/ Bryan Cranston

Bridges on Bridges with Beau Bridges

Sad Mouse

The Jay Z Story

Ooh Child

E-Meth

Every Little Step

Peace on Earth/Little Drummer Boy

These are just a small handful of Matt ‘s sketches. We ‘re positive that after watching these, you ‘ll want to see more, which you can do by visiting Matt & Oz ‘s Vimeo page.

We at Funny Or Die celebrate the life and work of Matt Villines, one of the most talented directors we ‘ve ever known, and as good a guy as you could find. Rest in peace and thank you for the memories, Matt.