FRANKIES

NEW VID ALERT: Some buds & I secretly shot a short film inside of a diner.

It’s been a while since I shot anything guerilla (ie. no budget, no permission), so when my buddy @AhrenBrunow showed me footage that he had shot on his Google Pixel, I started brainstorming ideas that we could shoot in a stolen location.

The end result is a love-letter to my favourite greasy spoon in all of Toronto, Frankies Diner (994 Queen St. W), and a celebration of the time-honoured tradition of couples fighting quietly in public.

Extra special thanks to Tennille Read and Andy Trithardt for lending their [obvious] talents.

Titles designed & animated by Britt Edwards. https://www.brittedwards.com 

Pancakes, y’all. FrankiesDiner.ca

UNCAGED

I love rasslin’, so getting my foot in the door with IMPACT Wrestling was my 2018 dream come true. ✨

Today, we’re kicking off 2019 right w/ this short doc I had the pleasure of cutting together, which profiles “The Machine” Brian Cage:

Rasslin!

YEAR IN REVIEW: ’18

I spent my 2017 focused on one thing: shooting as much as I possibly could. Through the year, I made my money in advertising and immediately invested it into personal projects which were shot with low-budgets, stolen locations, and talented friends lending their time (not to mention: gear).

At the beginning of 2018, when I looked back on the stuff that I had made the year prior, I was super proud of the results, but I knew objectively that my personal stuff lacked an industry-standard polish: as much as I love guerilla filmmaking, I knew that I needed to start pursuing more traditional means of filmmaking and that meant trying to find (A) funding and (B) ideas that were good enough to get funding.

In February, I caught an idea and spent the following two months writing it as a feature-length screenplay. I spent the remainder of the year fine-tuning the story and submitting it to various feature film development programs. Alas, no professional development was bestowed upon me by those cruel, cruel jurors and the film, which I am still madly deeply in love with, remains unloved.

In late 2017, when I shot Curling Canada’s Season of Champions ads in Regina, I came across this story from a nearby town: Tisdale, Sask., drops ‘rape’, adds ‘opportunity’ to town slogan

Needless to say, the story stuck in my mind and a few months later, it inspired me to write a short script set around those tangential events. I applied for a couple of grants and the jurors once again passed their cruel, cruel judgement, but just the same as my feature idea, I’m nowhere near ready to give up on this one either.

I hope that by the time 2019 comes to a close, I’ll have some lovin’ news to share for these films and that they’ve moved a few more steps towards becoming reality.

In July, frustrated by my cruel, cruel rejections, I decided it was time to shoot another project. I called up my talented buds Mat Barkley (cinematographer), Adam T. Burke (audio), and Andy Trithardt (composer) to tell them that I was roaring up to shoot another low-budget spec-ad, this time for WorldStarHipHop.com. Bless their souls, they all came aboard to help me shoot one of my slickest spots yet. Huge assist goes to comedian / actor Jherad Alleyne who absolutely destroyed this performance:

In the spring, a weird twist of fate took place: IMPACT Wrestling, one of the biggest global professional wrestling companies, moved operations to Toronto, Ontario.

As some of you might know, I trained to be a professional wrestler after graduating high school. I went two whole weeks before calling it quits (bad knees, bad back, my body is a real lemon). I can’t say that I’ve regretted that decision, I honestly wasn’t built for a life in the squared circle, but I’ve always loved wrestling, and never lost that desire to one day play a part in that wild circus.

I sent an impassioned email to IMPACT Wrestling outlining my abilities (not to mention: SPACE MONKEY ORIGINS) and interest in working with the company — fast forward to July when I was hired to direct and edit DAY OF SLAMMIVERSARY, a documentary which covered the behind-the-scenes chaos of pulling together a live pay-per-view.

In the months that have followed, I’ve worked with IMPACT in an increasing variety of ways. I have no idea what 2019 holds, but I’m oh-so thrilled to have suddenly found myself working in the wild world of rasslin’.

In November, after seeing Jonah Hill’s MID90s, I cut together a 1-minute tribute to my personal mid-90s using news footage of professional wrestling’s effect on children:

I think that just about covers it. It’s been a fun year, challenging at times, but I’m feeling that I’m on the right track towards becoming the filmmaker I hope to be. Thank you to anyone out there who’s reading this and sharing in the journey. Much love, y’all.

As a final send-off, here’s RETURN TO PARIS, a 1-minute film that I shot and edited in the summer starring my beautiful wiener dog, Wren.

🏄

GRAVE CONCERNS

It’s now been three years since I moved to Toronto and decided to pursue filmmaking as my sole focus. The first project that I shot (in the proverbial “6ix”) was GRAVE CONCERNS, a proof-of-concept pilot for a web series that I planned to pitch to producers.

One of the funding avenues where we applied for funding (the IPF) required us to upload a 2-minute trailer to the internet, which was cool but also a bit of a dilemma as we had shot a 4-minute scene as the proof-of-concept. I ended up finding two minutes within the original four and released the truncated trailer (in early 2017).

Fast forward to today and I’ve still yet to find that magical money pot to get the series made. My personal hope for GC remains alive, though, as I’ve started writing it as a feature film and am determined to tell this story one day. *flex emoji*

All this to say: if you watched the GRAVE CONCERNS teaser in 2017, you’re awesome, thank you (but here’s the rest of it). To those of you who’ve never seen a frame, please enjoy this short tale of woe about two Wild West gravediggers:

LOGLINE: Two men attempt to leave behind a troubled past by toiling away in the Wild West, working in the booming business of gravedigging. (2018)

CAST:
Timothy – Tim Walker
Clifton – Jeff Hanson
Old Man – Robert Nasmith

CREW:
Writer / Director – Glen Matthews
Director of Photography – Mark Corless
Assistant Director – Steve Cutler
Wardrobe – Holly Lloyd
Title Design – Britt Edwards
Visual Compositor – Brendan Henry
Additional Audio Recording – Matt Sutherland
Executive Producer – Adam Massey
Special Thanks – Tim Corrigan, Alexandra Cooney

PS. Speaking of Wild West, did y’all see BUSTER SCRUGGS? That shit was tight, yo. 🐎

SLAM DOC

I always knew what I wanted to be when I grew up: a professional wrestler.

Immediately after graduating high school, I sold my car, moved to Moncton, New Brunswick and began my training in the squared circle (under Peter Smith AKA Brody Steele). Unfortunately for my hopes & dreams, my small and fragile body (bad knees, bad back) was not built for a life between the ropes.

Fast-forward to the beginning of 2018, it was announced that IMPACT Wrestling, the world’s 2nd largest wrestling company (behind WWE) was moving operations to Toronto, Ontario and I immediately reached out to the company to see if there were any opportunities available for a professional filmmaker / life-long wrestling nerd like myself.

Lo & behold, 13 years after my failed attempt to enter the wild world of professional wrestling, I got hired by IMPACT frickin’ Wrestling to direct & edit a day-of documentary that covers the behind-the-scenes setup for Slammiversary, one of their biggest annual events.

The doc, DAY OF SLAMMIVERSARY, was an absolute dream-come-true to capture and create. It was my first time directing a documentary, but honestly, I really couldn’t be happier with the experience or the end result. Shout out to my cinematographer Shady Hanna (shadyhanna.com) and producer Dave Hodgson […] for being the wind beneath my wings. Please enjoy:

I’m happy to say that there are a few more things coming down the pipeline with IMPACT, but they’ll have to remain under wraps until they’re signed, sealed and delivered.

Anything is possible, y’all.

FIRST-LOOK: GRAVE CONCERNS

Friendly friends, it is my tremendous pleasure to share a first-look at GRAVE CONCERNS, the 12-part comedic web series that follows two disgruntled gravediggers in the Wild West.

Each episode will straddle the line between comedy & drama (O BROTHER WHERE ART THOU meets LOUIE) exploring themes surrounding society, existentialism and, ultimately, how & why men fail to communicate with each other.

We are applying for funding from the Independent Production Fund, and as part of the IPF’s evaluation, we are encouraged to get as many views as possible.

THEREFORE if you enjoyed the GRAVE CONCERNS Web Series Preview, we cordially invite you to…

(1) Subscribe to our YouTube page

(2) Like our Facebook page, & most importantly… 

(3) SHARE THE FOLLOWING LINK WITH FRIENDS, FAMILY & EVEN TOTAL STRANGERS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_VJQyZTLKg

Sincerely, thank you for watching and for any support that you can offer us in our hunt to get this thing made (remember: Like, Subscribe & Share). As I wrote in last month’s GRAVE CONCERNS blog entry, I have never been this creatively excited for a project in my life.

Much love, folks. ❤️

CAST:
Timothy – Tim Walker
Clifton – Jeff Hanson
Old Man – Robert Nasmith

CREW:
Writer / Director – Glen Matthews
Producer – Melani Wood
Director of Photography – Mark Corless
Assistant Director – Steve Cutler
Wardrobe – Holly Lloyd
Title Design – Britt Edwards
Visual Compositor – Brendan Henry
Additional Audio Recording – Matt Sutherland
Executive Producer – Adam Massey
Special Thanks – Tim Corrigan, Alexandra Cooney

THE FILMS OF TAIKA WAITITI

Hello friends,

I wanted to take a moment out of my regularly scheduled self-promotion on this here web zone to share my infatuation with the films of this fine dishevelled gentleman, Taika Waititi (pronounced joyously: Ti-kuh Why-tee-tee).

The ability to balance comedy with emotional stakes is a constant in many of my favourite films — ie. films from filmmakers like Edgar Wright, Wes Anderson, the Coen Brothers, Noah Baumbach (when paired w/ Greta Gerwig), Billy Wilder, John Hughes, Charlie Chaplin, so I’m here to say that if you enjoy those folks you need to catch up with Taika Waititi at your earliest convenience.

The first film I saw from Waititi was the best damn film-going experience I’ve ever had…

Halifax’s Outlier Film Festival, a festival dedicated to showcasing genre films, was screening WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS (2014). I knew nothing about the film other than it was a vampire mockumentary from New Zealand, so I was surprised to see the Bus Stop Theatre packed to capacity (which was 60 people, for the small indy black box theatre).

The lights went dark and before long, all 60 of us were all cackling and knee-slapping in unison. 90 minutes later, the lights came back up and I was absolutely floored. I hadn’t been a part of a collective experience like that ever before, where every moment landed as intended, the highs & the lows, the emotional reality of something so silly as vampires living in a flat.

The second film was 2010’s BOY…

Again, I went in blind, avoiding reviews or trailers, and again, I was floored. The ability to balance comedy with drama has always been the way straight to my film-loving heart and BOY‘s coming of age story set in the beautiful New Zealand landscape showcased some incredibly impressive tonal gymnastics, and it was at this point that I was convinced that Taika Waititi was a filmmaker to pay attention to.

The third film, which sealed my love for Waititi, was 2016’s HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE…

Unlike the previous two films, I couldn’t help myself from diving in and getting an early look at this film. The trailers looked incredible and the early buzz from critics was overwhelmingly positive. I was going into this one with the often-deadly “high hopes”. I’m happy to report that the film delivered as Waititi managed to draw me in with laughs, heart, and some solid action scenes (all while providing some subtle social commentary on institutional colonialism).

Comedy is super subjective, of course, but I think the key for comedy is sincerity, and that is something that I think is sorely missing in much of comedy today. Waititi’s characters have hopes & dreams that they strive for, and that is where I fall in love with his films.

SINCERITY > FLIPPANCY 👌

Up next, Waititi is directing THOR: RAGNAROK, which combines my fav Avengers, Thor & Hulk, and also apparently features a John Cena cameo, so I’m glad to hear that Marvel has been receiving my letters.

That’s all for now. Check out some Waititi flicks and let me know what you think, yo. ❤

SPACE MONKEY

Good news, everyone! My longstanding love-affair with the wonderful world of professional wrestling is alive & well! I recently shot SPACE MONKEY, a short film / promotional video for the oh-so talented independent wrestler, Space Monkey.

“Hold on a minute, Glen! You made another wrestling movie?!”

This isn’t just another wrestling film — (but thank you for the chance to mention my previous wrestling film, SAVING FACE) — this film is an absurdist origin story for the character Space Monkey through the eyes of a grief-stricken Canadian Space Agency scientist.

If all things go well, I’m hoping to share this weirdo with the world in March. Until then, have a look at some photos (by Britt Edwards), whydontchya?

Dan Sanderson plays The Scientist.

NAME REDACTED plays Space Monkey (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram).

DOP Mark Corless (who also shot GRAVE CONCERNS) helped me make this damn thing.

Here’s Mark and Steve Cutler, setting up the Steadycam and flipping off the Stills Photographer for no good reason at all. What a jerk.

Sound guy extraordinaire, Adam Burke, doing sound things.

That’s all for now. Can’t wait to share more, folks.

Until then, shoot for the stars!

GRAVE CONCERNS

Hey you, yes you, reader of these words.

sup?

It’s been a while since I’ve written anything here, mostly because this has primarily been a place for keeping track of my acting endeavours (which have been put on the backburner for the foreseeable future). How are you doing?

As mentioned in my previous post, I’ve taken my filmmaking talents to the wonderful world of advertising, joining up with the ad house Clark Stanley (ClarkStanley.com). Aside from employing me, the fine folks at Clark Stanley have also produced the pilot for a web series that I’ve written and directed (very nice of them, I know).

What’s the web series? Oh, I’m glad you asked…

( Title design(s) by the oh-so talented Alexandra Cooney. )

“GRAVE CONCERNS tells the story of two men, Timothy Sellmeyer & Clifton B. Pluck, toiling away in the Wild West, working in the booming business of grave-digging.”

Aside from being two very handsome & talented actors, Tim Walker & Jeff Hanson are also good friends who I met shortly after moving to Toronto last October. I had wanted to come up with an idea to shoot with them for a long time, and it wasn’t until July that the idea for two gravediggers in the Wild West came to me.

The image of two men toiling away in the [traditionally romanticized] Old West & working at a shit job — simply enough: it made me laugh. I assure you, there’s more to the story than their occupation, but that’ll come later.

We shot in September, and I finished editing the pilot this past Thursday.

I say this with all the sincerity I can muster via blog post:

I have never been this creatively excited for a project in my life — I cannot wait to share GRAVE CONCERNS with you. The day for the pilot’s release is still a ways away as we hunt for series funding to get the full season made, but please stay tuned.

On the advertising side of things, I’m keeping busy, but there’s nothing I can report on until it’s done. Hold tight. Oh, I’m also workin’ on a new website.

Fun things ahead! Hope you’re well, friend-o’s!

“SAVING FACE” ONLINE!

H’oh boy, the time has come! I am so damn happy to be releasing my latest directorial effort, SAVING FACE!

This film has an incredibly personal story to it for me, which I’ve shared further down the page, so for those of you who might be into that kind of thing, keep scrolling when you’re done watching.

SYNOPSIS: With the world watching, a mild-mannered pro-wrestler transforms into what he’s always fought against: the bad guy.

Ring the bell!

https://vimeo.com/107735653

CREW:
Writer / Director / Editor: Glen Matthews ( GlenMatthews.ca ), Producer: Andrew Hicks ( fairfield-creative.com/ ), Director of Photography: Liam Higgins ( jellyphresh.com/ ), Assistant Director: Ian Burns ( ianburns.sqsp.com/ ), Wardrobe / Costume Design: Bonnie Archibald-Awalt, Sound Design & Mix: Dave Johnson, Data Management: David Fulde.

CAST:
Red – Glen Matthews, Blue – Bob Mann, The Wife – Becca Babcock, Red Jr. – Ethan Beck, Boss – Kevin Gerrior, The Ref – Chris Fitzgerald, Manager – Ralph Walton-Bone Urquhart, Flatbed – Troy Merrick AKA Sexton Phoenix, Big Rig – Jason Collier AKA Lumber Jack Johnson, Kontra – Chris Cooke AKA The Big Picture, Slambo – Ryan Mader AKA Lincoln Steen.

…Things got pretty weird there, eh?

Those of you who know me are well aware that I have a long-standing obsession with professional wrestling. It started when I was a child, continued through my teens, then, after high school, I sold my car and moved to Moncton, New Brunswick to pursue training in the squared circle.

After a week of my grappler-education, I called home from a terribly depressing pay phone at a Moncton strip mall, telling my parents I was quitting wrestling. Why? Long story short: my body sucks (bad knees, bad back) and I knew I didn’t stand a chance if my body was crapping-out on me already. The dream was over before it even began.

After a bit of career-experimentation (ie. working at Bluenotes for a year), I eventually found my way to acting, which I really enjoyed, and people told me I was good at. Acting eventually lead to filmmaking, and eventually, thanks to SAVING FACE, filmmaking brought me back, full-circle, to professional wrestling…

Our shoot consisted of seven days of straight shooting. It was a gruelling process for all involved (I owe many people on that crew many beers). Our final three days of shooting were in the Halifax Forum, where we would be shooting all of the wrestling scenes.

We spent hours setting up the ring, exhausted, but knowing it had to get done before the next day, and when it was, I started running the ropes, and all of a sudden I just started laughing my ass off. It hit me like a ton of bricks: this was the very definition of a dream come true.

The next couple of days, we had four professional wrestlers come in, all of whom I sincerely respect (and have long admired); they worked with us, we worked with them, and I was in absolute heaven getting tossed around.

Honestly, I could go on for hours about how much making this film meant to me, but I just want to say thank you to everyone who had a hand in helping me get to whatever point in my career that I needed to be at to say, “Hey, I don’t know if anyone’s gonna dig this, but I’m gonna go make this weird wrestling film anyway.”

There’s a lot of you who’ve contributed to my career, either directing me in a short, handing me a water bottle between takes, or just saying something nice (don’t forget you wonderful people who donated to the Saving Face IndieGogo), thank you for playing a part in allowing me to live this dream.

On to the next one.