SWEET WORLD FILMS
A FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY
Formed in 2020, Sweet World Films is the production company run by the award winning producing team of Dana Nachman and Chelsea Matter. Sweet World chooses stories that move people, and tells those stories with an eye toward pulling out heightened emotion, whether in a hard hitting investigative piece or a family friendly film. Their films and television series focus on stories that are life-affirming and that leave audiences feeling better about humanity and more empowered for having watched them.
Dana Nachman is an award-winning filmmaker who launched Sweet World Films in 2020 with its inaugural film, Dear Santa. Dear Santa was purchased by IFC Films and released in December 2020—in theaters, on-demand and now streaming on Hulu.
Dear Santa is Dana’s sixth feature film. Accolades for her work include Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh designation, a World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, selection as the Opening Film at the Slamdance Film Festival, and numerous Jury and Audience awards. Her films have also featured Academy Award winner Sean Penn as a Narrator and Executive Producer.
Dear Santa was awarded the best feature film award at Tribeca X in 2022, eight Telly Awards, a Brand Film Award and shortlisted at the New York Festivals Advertising Awards. Critics widely lauded the film:
“Dear Santa is one of the most wonderful films of the year.” —Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun Times
“Sweet-as-pie… Writer/director Dana Nachman is an expert at tugging heartstring.” —Lorry Kitka, Film Thread
Sweet World Films was hired to turn the film into a series, premiering on ABC in December 2022 and now streaming on Hulu. The series won seven Telly Awards in its first season. Season two of the Dear Santa series is coming to Hulu Thanksgiving of this year.
Chelsea Matter is a documentary producer whose films have screened at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, Full Frame and IDFA receiving national distribution through outlets including Netflix, Hulu, IFC, RADiUS-TWC, the History Channel, Gravitas Ventures and OWN.
Matter is the longtime producing partner of director Dana Nachman. The pair has worked together for more than two decades, most recently serving as showrunners on the series Dear Santa for Hulu, now in its second season. The series is based on their 2020 film by the same name.
Matter also co-produced and line produced the film Being Evil, directed by Academy Award winner Daniel Junge, which premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was distributed through Gravitas Ventures and the History Channel. She also co-produced Junge’s film A Lego Brickumentary, which premiered at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival and was released through RADiUS-TWC.
Prior to this, she produced The Human Experiment, directed by Emmy award-winning journalists Dana Nachman and Don Hardy, and narrated/executive produced by Oscar winner Sean Penn. The film had its international premiere at the renowned International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in 2013.
Matter’s most recent films include Blessed Child, directed by first-time filmmaker Cara Jones, which premiered at DOC-NYC in 2019 and sold to Topic, and Dear Santa, directed by Dana Nachman and released by IFC for the 2020 holiday season.
Prior to producing documentary films, Matter was a writer and producer on docuseries for The Discovery Channel, Travel Channel and History Channel. Matter graduated from Stanford University and is an alumna of the Tribeca Film Institute’s Tribeca All Access program and the Impact Partners Producers Fellowship. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and three children.