STOP PRESS: Building on the success of his great work with Independent Thinking over the last few years Matt has now been snapped up by Carnegie Mellon University in the US.
Matt was born in Australia to English Parents with Canadian passports. Nationalism never made much sense to him. He was educated all over the world (including Singapore, Hong Kong and the UK), though went to University in Canada where he gained a degree in acting.
Despite being told by his music teacher that he was ‘not musical’, at University Matt worked as a composer and a session musician as well as a lighting designer and assistant director. Upon graduating, he worked as a professional actor and a professional sound designer as well as running workshops in schools with 11 - 18 year olds.
In 1996, he was accepted to the prestigious London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) as one of only two directing students. He completed his directing diploma there and was immediately invited back as a staff member. Today he still teaches at LAMDA, and directs plays for them. This has led to Matt also working at the Royal Academy of Dance – teaching creativity to ballet dancers - and the Royal Academy of Music – teaching acting to opera singers. Nationally he has travelled as far afield as the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and the Arts Council of the Isle of Man as well as other international work.
In 1998 Matt began working in schools in the UK. Initially he worked with the Raising Standards Partnership (RSP) in Northamptonshire, which targeted 14-17 year old boys. This led to working with ‘disaffected’ teens of both sexes, and finally teachers and parents as well. In 2000 Matt was asked to become an associate of Independent Thinking Ltd, where he has worked very successfully on thinking and learning skills, envisioning and creativity, motivation and achievement in mainstream and special schools with learners from 6 to 71 including students, staff, management teams, governors, government officials, inspectors and parents.
Summer 2004 saw him bringing his Independent Thinking work together with his LAMDA connections by leading a summer school Event for students from an EAZ in the Midlands.
His past clients include Northamptonshire Chamber of Commerce, Surrey TEC, Connexions, Kent County Council, Gloucester LEA, Wednesbury & Bletchley EAZs, South Shields Gifted & Talented Initiative, University College Northampton, Basic Skills England and Basic Skills Wales. His business clients include The Department for Work and Pensions and the Inland Revenue.
Through all of this, Matt continues to act and direct professionally, working throughout the world including Vancouver, Calgary, Edinburgh, Bristol, Holland, Belgium, Germany and London’s West End. His recent acting work includes acting opposite Donald Sutherland in the forthcoming Frankenstein, starring Luke Goss and William Hurt.
(Name-dropping was his subsidiary at University.)
To make contact with Matt please call the Independent Thinking office on 0709 239 9617 or e-mail us at learn@independentthinking.co.uk