‘Hair Love’ Director Matthew A. Cherry Launches Kickstarter for New Musical Short

Academy Award-winning director and New York Times bestselling author Matthew A. Cherry (Hair Love) has returned to the platform that put his animation career in the spotlight. The accomplished storyteller is back on Kickstarter to launch a second campaign — this time for Time Signature, a new 2D animated short film. The campaign aims to fund production costs for the short, which will also serve as a proof of concept for a future feature-length film. The project blends magical realism, time travel and original music to explore themes of identity, legacy and creative inheritance.

Time Signature follows Melody, a teenage prodigy preparing for an audition at a prestigious music school — an opportunity her pragmatic mother refuses to support. Battling writer’s block, Melody retreats to the attic, where she discovers an unfinished piece of sheet music hidden inside her late grandmother’s piano. The piano seems to hold magical properties. The sheet music is signed by her grandmother, but the other names are faded and illegible. When Melody plays the piece, she’s transported into a series of time loops, reliving defining musical moments from her family’s past.

“I’m incredibly excited to bring Time Signature to life — a story that means so much to me,” said Cherry. “It celebrates the richness of Black music and honors the legacy of Black women who’ve carried love, strength, and tradition through generations. At its core, this film is about Black joy, resilience and the unbreakable bonds of family. The support from the Kickstarter community truly means everything to me.”

Hair Love shattered records on Kickstarter raising $284,058 with several backers across the globe and ultimately won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film at the 2020 Oscars. The short film sparked a global conversation about the beauty and cultural significance of Black hair. Based on the New York Times bestselling picture book of the same name, published by Kokila/Penguin Random House, Hair Love was directed by Cherry, Everett Downing Jr. (My Dad the Bounty Hunter) and Bruce W. Smith (The Proud Family). The book has sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide, and was nominated for an NAACP Image Award.

A spin-off series, Young Love (12 episodes), was developed in collaboration with Sony Pictures Animation and premiered on Max in 2023. The franchise’s cultural impact further led to the launch of the Dove Kids Care Hair Love collection, an intentionally curated line of hair care products created to inspire children to take pride in their hair and embrace self-love from an early age.

Chicago native, Matthew A. Cherry is a former NFL wide receiver  turned filmmaker who became an internationally known name in animation through is 2020 short film and picture book, Hair Love. In 2020, Cherry was listed as one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business and Fortune’s 40 Under 40 in Media and Entertainment. In addition to previously consulting for MonkeyPaw Productions and executive producing Spike Lee’s highly acclaimed BlacKKKlansman, Matthew has also directed multiple episodes of live-action television, including Black-ish and Abbott Elementary.

Cherry’s first feature film, The Last Fall, was inspired by his own experiences playing in the NFL. It debuted at SXSW and made its television premiere on BET. His second film, 9 Rides, debuted at SXSW. He is also an accomplished music video director, having directed videos for artists including Michelle Williams, Beyoncé, Kelly Rowland, Snoop Dogg and Common. At the 2015 Stellar Gospel Music Awards, Matthew took home the Music Video of the Year award for Michelle Williams’ “Say Yes,” featuring Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland.

The Kickstarter campaign for Time Signature is now live.