Biography

A graduate from USC's School of Cinematic Arts, John Matthews works as a writer and producer with the production company Folklore Films.

John Elbert Matthews was born in 1975 in Houston, Texas, to Judy V. Matthews (Skrobanek), a librarian, and Richard C. Matthews, a postal worker. Early life was spent horseback riding at his grandparents' East Texas property, camping and playing baseball. His family moved to Tomball, Texas when he was a sophomore in high school.

After moving from Texas to California, Matthews received his B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles in International Relations with a minor in Public Policy. While at UCLA he directed the UCLA cable news program "UCLA: Next" and produced a series of documentary shorts drawing attention to homeless issues in Los Angeles. A college athlete, he rowed for the UCLA Men's Varsity Rowing team his junior year. Matthews also completed summer internships at Valhalla Motion Pictures (Aeon Flux, The Walking Dead), and United Talent Agency.

Upon graduating UCLA cum laude, he worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs negotiating contracts with studios and production companies interested in filming on Federal land in and around Los Angeles. He completed his M.F.A. from USC's School of Cinematic Arts in 2013 with a special emphasis on writing and producing. While still a student at at USC he was selected to produce a promotional short for Sony, shooting on a prototype of what became the F5 camera. He would go on to produce two of his fellow classmates' thesis films as well as the 546 film "This Time Tomorrow." John also holds a master's degree in Communication Management from USC's Annenberg School.

His first feature film "Lore" (2018), a psychological thriller involving the disappearance of a teenager, was shot in 2015/16 in Paris, Idaho and Los Angeles. "Lore" won Best Feature at the Utah Film festival and Nacogdoches Film Festival in 2018 before being picked up by Indican Pictures through an output deal with Lionsgate. Since then, he has produced a number of culturally significant films including "King Cake," a documentary on the history of Mardi Gras/New Orleans featuring John Goodman and the "Fan Level Midnight" series, an exploration of the abiding popularity of the U.S. version of "The Office." He continues to work as a producer and writer on a number of projects in development.

Matthews lives in Long Beach, California.

- IMDb mini biography by: Anonymous