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Jono Matt, who is featured in a pitch deck viewed by Page Six Hollywood, was as surprised as anyone to learn that he is an "advisor" to the Ryan Kavanaugh's new company. On Tuesday, we told you about an eyebrow-raising tech startup dubbed SuperFile that has attracted Hollywood investors Patricia Heaton and Jason Derulo and with Ryan Kavanaugh at the center of the intrigue.
It turns out that screenwriter Jono Matt, who is featured in a pitch deck viewed by Page Six Hollywood, was as surprised as anyone to learn that he is an “advisor” to the company. A Verve rep for Matt says, “He has no association with SuperFile.”
Jono Matt and Darren Criss are seen on the SAG-AFTRA picket line on August 14, 2023 GC ImagesA pitch deck listed Matt, a Hollywood screenwriter, as an advisor, adding that Matt calls SuperFile a “game-changer for screenwriters” because it will allow scribes to “finally track which directors and actors are engaging with the material.”
Matt has several projects in development including one at Netflix with Leo DiCaprio’s Appian Way, called “Captain Planet.”
I reported that Kavanaugh, the high-flying mogul whose Relativity Media flamed out into one of the biggest bankruptcies in Hollywood history in 2015, had a new and surprising side hustle, advising a Chicago-based startup that seemed to be getting more buzz swaggy branding than its tech product.
Kavanaugh’s Knight Global invested $30 million into the company’s Series B round and is helping attract more funds for the venture founded by Shane Valdez, with $80 million more from the likes of “Million Dollar Listing” bros Josh and Matt Altman, “Everybody Loves Raymond” actress Heaton and her husband, Brit actor David Hunt, and “Watcha Say” singer-songwriter Derulo.
Shane Van Gisbergen in the No. 97 SuperFile Chevrolet at Martinsville Speedway. Getty ImagesThe company’s logo is already emblazoned on the jerseys of MLS pro soccer team Los Angeles FC, and there was SuperFile signage on driver Shane van Gisbergen’s No. 97 Chevrolet at Daytona. Not to mention that one investor had noticed $400,000 of Louis Vuitton luggage on display in the lobby of the company’s West Loop offices.
But Valdez told us the company’s file-sharing product is launching in September, adding of the markeeting campaign so far, “It’s not just branding. It’s real activation, using our technology inside that ecosystem as a proving ground for something much bigger… I’d rather be the biggest tech company in NASCAR than the smallest tech company in F1.”
In response to what Matt’s rep says, SuperFile founder Valdez wrote us in an email: “Most of what you shared in your work wasn’t accurate except for your final point that the technology is absolutely real. When I read your story I just assumed you were writing fiction to get a headline or something. :)”
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