Hello and welcome!

A stylised image of Matt from the neck up. Matt is a white man in his late 30s, with glasses and dark blond hair. This image has a circular frame with a golden yellow background.

My name is Matt and I am an experienced editor, storyteller and filmmaker with a particular interest in cinema’s power to highlight inequality in our world and encourage positive change. Over the last seven years, I have delivered film focused events and workshops to communities in Sussex and London. I will tell you a bit more about these shortly!

This new website provides an overview of the different projects that I have worked on, as well as those that I am currently involved in. These include Democracy For All, a film which concentrated on the challenges that many learning disabled people face when attempting to engage in politics. Democracy for All is currently featured on the Film page on this site. It can also be accessed via my Linkedin profile, (also available through this site), which includes a comprehensive list of all my film and media projects going as far back as my documentary about the Mods and Rocker clashes which I completed for my Masters degree at the University of Sussex.

The success of Democracy for All, which included being interviewed by local news media, saw me deliver a lecture about the film to the University of Brighton’s Disability Research Network. Soon after, I helped transform the Network into a film screening event which was available to the wider community of Brighton and Hove. Hosted at the Fabrica gallery, A Different Lens featured the documentary Heavy Load and reunited the cast with the film’s Director Jerry Rothwell. One year later, Fabrica introduced me to the artist, activist and filmmaker Kyla Harris. Since then, Kyla and I have been combining our skills, knowledge and experience to deliver The Other Screen, a series of events that explore, discuss and challenge representations of disabled people and the d/Deaf community in film.

More info about The Other Screen is available at theotherscreen.uk. I also hope to highlight my experiences of working on this project, as well as the subject-matter covered at our different events, via an upcoming blog and podcast which will also be hosted here!

I am currently collaborating on initiatives which have seen me share my skills and knowledge with others. Such projects include contributions to a new course about film programming run by the Independent Cinema Office. This involved talking about my experiences of delivering The Other Screen as part of a filmed interview and was complemented by a written case study that I also prepared. I have also had the pleasure of working with the Brighton based charity Art In Mind to create a series of videos highlighting ways in which art and creativity can help improve mental health and wellbeing. 

These partnerships build on previous workshops and educational projects that I have completed with organisations such as The Prince’s Trust, Grace Eyre, Hastings Borough Council and Live Cinema UK, (to name a few!) They also draw on the skills and techniques which helped me to achieve a First Class award for the BA (Hons) in English with Media Studies, a Merit for the Masters in Literature, Film and Visual Culture and a Distinction and the Fred Inglis Prize for the PGCert in Creative Media.

I always welcome opportunities to collaborate. If you have a project that I may be able to assist with, or if you would like to tell me what you are currently working on, please do get in touch via the details on my contacts page!

Thank you for your interest and hope that you enjoy the new site!

Matt.