I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of Country on which I live, the Djab Wurrung and Jardwadjali peoples, for whom Gariwerd (Grampians) is a sacred place and have lived here for 20,000 years. I recognise their continuing connection to lands, waters, skies and communities. I pay my respect to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, to Elders both past and present, and to the descendants who continue to maintain the land's stories and culture. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be, Aboriginal land.
Matthew Barker is an award-winning screenwriter living in the mountain town of Halls Gap in the majestic Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park, Victoria, Australia. Honing his craft over many years, Matthew enjoys all genres, but his favourite swimming hole is horror. He hopes to develop features and television with strong, complex characters and enthralling stories. As a trained counsellor in trauma, grief and addiction, he creates authentic characters reflecting the human condition.
As a gay man, Matthew wants to show diversity on the screen such as people from the LGBTQIA+ communities, where their stories aren’t solely about their difference. Where gay or transgender men and women get to save the day, just as they do in the real world.
Matthew won an Australian Writers’ Guild national screenwriting competition for unproduced screenplays and has had work win or place well in national and international competitions and programs, including being shortlisted in the Australians in Film Gateway LA Screenplay Program. He won Best Feature Screenplay - Unproduced at the Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney.
Matthew has had screenplays optioned in Australia and been hired by international producers to rewrite existing IP.
As a gay man, Matthew wants to show diversity on the screen such as people from the LGBTQIA+ communities, where their stories aren’t solely about their difference. Where gay or transgender men and women get to save the day, just as they do in the real world.
Matthew won an Australian Writers’ Guild national screenwriting competition for unproduced screenplays and has had work win or place well in national and international competitions and programs, including being shortlisted in the Australians in Film Gateway LA Screenplay Program. He won Best Feature Screenplay - Unproduced at the Night of Horror International Film Festival in Sydney.
Matthew has had screenplays optioned in Australia and been hired by international producers to rewrite existing IP.
