John Matthews

A graduate from USC's School of Cinematic Arts, John Matthews works as a 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 and United Talent Agency. After graduating UCLA, 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. 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, California. This same year, Matthews associate produced on director Morgan Dameron's maiden directing effort Different Flowers (2017) featuring Shelly Long. Both of these films were picked up for distribution for a 2018 release. He continues to work as a producer and writer on a number of projects in development. Matthews lives in Long Beach, California.