User:Ryuma Matsuzaka

Ryuma Matsuzaka
is an internationally acclaimed film and theater artist. Born in Japan March 28, 1983, Matsuzaka has starred in no fewer than 12 critically acclaimed films, including The $treetz(2017 - Dir. J.Ceramello, E.Rivera), selected for the Newark Latino Film Festival, Water Girls(2017 - Dir. Y.Ye), selected for the New York Short Film Festival, FAB3(2015 - K.Shimasaki), winner of Outstanding Performance by the Fukuoka Independent Film Festival, and In the Hero(Eng. Unsung Hero) (2014 - M.Take), which won a Japan Academy Award, Light and Shadow(2014 - J.Suzuki), winner of Tama New Wave Arushiten Competition, and Maiko(2013 - Y.Fushimi), winner of Moving Pictures Festival, Nieuwmoer, Belgium, Aniki(Eng. Big Brother) (2012 - J.Suzuki), winner of Grand Prize at the Second Iwaki Bouken Film Festival, and Eden (2012 - M.Take), nominee for Nippon Cinema Award at the Nippon Connection, Germany.

Early years: 2002-2009
Matsuzaka began his acting career in 2002 when he joined the esteemed Zen Hirano Acting Studio, where he studied method acting from Zen Hirano, who in 1968 became the first Asian member of the elite Actors Studio, and his wife, Miyuki Hirano. There, Matsuzaka studied the Strasberg and Chekhov acting methods. So impressed with his acting abilities, Miyuki Hirano dedicated a section of her book "The Liberation of Emotion: The Theme of Theater Expression and Method Acting" (2007) to Matsuzaka, describing his strength of emotion and courage as an actor (referring to him as “Shinya” for privacy), and including an acting essay he wrote. Initially focusing on theater, Matsuzaka was a core member of two distinguished Japanese theater companies: Mukon Theater Company and Kantokirkto Theater Company, and he performed in lead and other starring roles and scriptwriter in a number of Japanese “Off-Broadway” type plays and venues, including Sakura - The Gift(2014) at Theater Brats Tokyo with Mukon Theater Company, The Five Easels(2009) at Raft Tokyo with Jaken Theater Company, Maihama Vice(2009) at Duo Stage BBs Tokyo with Attention Please Theater Company, Wagahaiha Ningendearu(2008) at Yorozu Theater Tokyo with Kantokirkto Theater Company, Kokuhaku no Omnibus(2007) at the Theater Momo Tokyo with Kantokirkto Theater Company Jinsei Owarai Gekijou(2006) at the Ginza Play Theater Tokyo with Kantokirkto Theater Company, Yanagisawa Omocha Honpo Shinshouhin Kikakushitsu Kaihatsu Shuninno Hanashi(2006) at the Theater Momo Tokyo with Kantokirkto Theater Company, Ame Monogatari(2005) at the Ginza Play Theater Tokyo in November 2005 and Kokkai Lunchat the Akashi Studio Tokyo with Kantokirkto Theater Company. Notably Matsuzaka starred in an art film, Gold Standard(2008), directed by David Kelley. Gold Standardis a video installation that re-enacts in Tokyo a 1964 performance by Robert Rauschenberg. The film considers the American post-modern painter’s performance against the anti-American student demonstrations occuring in Japan at the same time. Film Crossover: 2010-Present

From around 2010-11
Matsuzaka began focusing on film acting and entered the Schooling Pad for Film (SPF), an actors and directors community founded by renowned Japanese producer/director Bong-Ou Lee emphasizing interaction and sharing among teachers and students. Matsuzaka studied at SPF from 2011-13, and in that time was twice awarded Best SPF Actor by Bong-Ou Lee, Japanese director/screenwriter Masaru Take and Japanese actor Houka Kinoshita. Matsuzaka has been credited with starring roles in no less than 7 major motion picture productions by IMDb and the Japan Film Database (JFDB). His films have won awards in not only the United States (including New York, New Jersey and Texas), but also Hong Kong, Belgium, Brazil, the UK, Germany, Estonia and his native Japan. In 2016, Matsuzaka entered HB Studio in New York to study the Uta Hagen acting method under such famous actors as Paul Pryce and Snezhana Chernova. Mr. Matsuzaka’s films are available on Amazon Prime and Netfilx. Mr. Matsuzaka has appeared in films with other famous artists like Angel Salazar (The Godfather), Houka Kinoshita, Shuhei Nomura and Dean Fujioka. Mr. Matsuzaka and his art have also received abundant publicity, with articles, photos and listings appearing on the pages of Shukan NY Seikatsu, NY Japion, Kazo City News Bulletin, New York Point Guide, HB Studio Official Brochure, Land TV (YouTube) Channel, Yo Clown, Nylon Japan, The Dusty Rebel, Karaoke DAM, TV Drama Database,and CoRich Theater & Art Review, among many others. Humanitarian Work Matsuzaka is a foundational member of “MoMO” (Movin’on Movie Oasis), a mobile movie project which commenced efforts at the "Tohoku Film Festival 2011 in Matsushima" to support films and filmmaking around the devastated areas of the Great East Japan Earthquake.

Special Roles
In 2018, Matsuzaka was named special acting coach to Alice Project - Kamen Jyoshigroup, a wildly popular underground girls-band among its fanbase and one of Japan’s top idol groups. Since 2015, Matsuzaka has been writing film and theater entertainment articles and providing other content for New York Point Guide(NYPG), a popular curated online media site that provides solutions for Japanese tourists’ concerns when traveling to New York for the first time. NYPG garners over 120,000 page views per month and maintains over 11,000 Instagram and Twitter followers. For fashion magazine Nylon Japan, Matsuzaka created the company’s official documentary of top Japanese model and fashion designer Ikumi’s show at NY Fashion Week in 2016. He was director and editor. Along with Riku Saitou, Matsuzaka is a co-founder of and core content creator for the popular LAND TV YouTube channel (2015), with over 113,000 views and 1,300 subscribers. Matsuzaka participated as a lead and supporting actor, and as cameraman for the channel’s Film Tourists Guide Book NYseries (2015-16) and as lead actor and scriptwriter for the channel’s Real English: How Do You Sayseries (2015-16). He also created short film dramas like Take It Easy(2015) for the channel.

Film Filmography

 * The $treetz(2017)
 * Water Girls (2017)
 * FAB3 (2015)
 * Take It Easy (2015)
 * Light and Shadow(2014)
 * In the Hero(Eng. Unsung Hero)(2014)
 * Metalca (Eng. Dead Banging)(2014)
 * Greatful Dead (2014)
 * Kujira no Ita Natsu (2014)
 * Maiko (2013)
 * I Am Ichihashi: Taiho Sareru Made(2013)
 * Orbis (2013)
 * Aniki (Eng. Big Brother) (2012)
 * Eden (2012)
 * Ogon Wo Daite Tobe (Eng. Fly with the Gold) (2012)
 * Period Uttara Catharsis (2011)