Matthew Chapman

Matthew Chapman was born in Cambridge, England but has lived in America for many years, first in Los Angeles then in New York. He writes and directs films but also works as a journalist and author. He has written for Harpers Magazine, Huffington Post, and National Geographic among others. His second book, "40 Days and 40 Nights - Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, OxyContin, and Other Oddities On Trial in Pennsylvania" was published by Harper/Collins. It tells the story of a small town ripped apart when fundamentalism and science came in conflict and was described by Christopher Hitchens as "A book that restores faith - but faith in culture and free inquiry." He also wrote "Trials Of The Monkey - An Accidental Memoir". Published by Picador, it is an account of the Scopes Trial told in the form of a road trip Chapman took to the Tennessee town where the trial took place, along with a memoir of his childhood growing up as a descendant of Charles Darwin. The Spectator wrote of it, "The publisher's blurb nudges us in the direction of bestsellers like Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux but, while Chapman can be as funny and revealing as either in the travel sections of his book, the autobiographical element plumbs greater depths." He has written and directed five independent movies, including the cult classic, "Strangers Kiss" starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, and most recently the thriller, "The Ledge" starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Terrence Howard, and Patrick Wilson. "The Ledge" was selected for the main competition at Sundance, bought by IFC, and sold to over 50 territories. He has written several mainstream pictures, among them Consenting Adults (1992), (Dir. Alan J. Pakula, with Kevin Spacey and Kevin Kline); Color of Night (1994) (Dir. Richard Rush, with Bruce Willis) and co-wrote Runaway Jury (2003), (Dir. Gary Fleder, with Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, John Cusack and Rachel Weisz). "Reaching For The Moon" with Miranda Otto and Glroia Pires, directed by Bruno Barreto He is the founder and president of ScienceDebate.org, which advocates that presidential candidates hold a live debate solely dedicated to science and technology issues. In 2008, 2012, and 2016 all final candidates (Obama/McCain, Obama/Romney and Clinton/Trump) answered a list of science policy questions. When published online, the answers reached almost a billion people, making this the largest science policy initiative in history. He is married to Brazilian actress, record producer and documentary film-maker, Denise Dumont, with whom he has a daughter, Anna Bella Chapman-Smith, and a stepson, Diogo Marzo.