Matthew Quinn Martin
By: Maggie Griffin
Matthew Quinn Martin is an actor, writer, director and producer who set up a platform of his own. Through his own talent, he discovered creative energies in writing of which changed his focus from writing screen plays to prose fiction. The irony of it all, he primarily makes a living as an actor, that Matthew calls “his day job”.
Matthew, a character that genetically comes natural to him, delivers the most valued entertainment to those who see him, know him and follow him. I will admit, knowing Matthew is more than a privilege, it’s more relatively speaking. Matthew told me once, a phrase he heard from an Uncle that humored him that he never forgot. “If you are going to move to England, you need to learn the language first”.
Traditional values at its best, Matthew has talents beyond his own control. He is a role model to many, a speaker to all, but most important, Matthew holds his family traditions close to heart. Rumor has it that he enjoys making his own wine. Genetically speaking, that came natural to him as his great-grandfather made his own wine too. Does Matthew come from a family of virtue and values, the answer is yes. There is a quality in Matthew that is familiar to me. Somehow I have it pinned, but I’ll announce that if I move to England and hopefully learn the language.
Matthew began acting while he was in college. Following, acted professional on stage, doing mostly theatre productions of classic works; especially Shakespeare. Today, being in the film industry, he simplified his valued roles as an actor, writer, director and producer. “I think of myself primarily as a storyteller. That job manifests itself in different ways through each of those positions. As a writer, most often you are the prime architect of story (whether or not that story is "original"), and if it's prose fiction then the job is pretty much done (all apologies to the hard-working editors out there). If it's a film, then it needs to get past that stage and then that's where the other jobs come in. As a producer, you are concerned with the nuts and bolt of making sure that story makes it out of the planning stage; sadly very few do. The director gets far too much credit as far as I'm concerned (especially on a film they didn't write) it's an exhausting job to be sure, and a very necessary one, but it can be a link very far down the chain. I just wrapped production on a film that I directed but didn't write ("Celebrities in Disgrace"), and I still feel odd taking credit as "my" film...it's really the writer's film as I see it (but then again, as a writer I've been burned pretty badly by a couple of credit-greedy jerks so I have an unabashed pro-writer stance). When you're acting (especially on stage), you're the last link in the chain that connects story to audience and are afforded the opportunity to communicate that story to them directly.” Matthew Quinn Martin Emphasizes.
Discussing Matthew’s favorite movies and TV shows as an actor he famed appearances on through the roles he played, refers back to the beginning for him, leading him to the present. Clearly, Matthew will answer direct questions with honest answers as Matthew stated, “The big credit is as a recurring co-star on Fringe (in the first season). When I got that I'd pretty much quit "acting" seriously and resigned myself to doing background work as a survival job (because it's fun and usually affords me plenty of time to get writing done on set; oh and they usually feed you). It felt like getting elected class president a decade after you graduated. Other than that, I suppose my favorite stage roles were as Hamlet and then as Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger. And as far as background goes; the Law & Order franchise has always been very kind to me, especially Criminal Intent."
Matthew gained excellent reviews for his screen play called “A Very Good Year”, one of my favorites as well, leading me to ask him where he got his inspiration when writing A Very Good Year. "As far as writing - anything goes, you draw from many sources. For that one the initial spark came when I was working downtown and found out that this broken-down old guy who'd hang out there used to be a mafia button-man back in the '50s. From there I shifted the location to Fair Haven, Connecticut (where I grew up) and incorporated some of the more colorful aspects of members of my own family (none of which were involved in organized crime, but who's personalities had that charismatic zing that audiences like)."
We know Matthew Quinn Martin is the writer of the movie Sling Shot, give me a positive statement quote about your accomplishment in the creation of Sling Shot. On a positive note, Matthew stated “Working on that taught me more about writing, the industry, the "place" of a writer in film making, and what comes after then any film school ever could. And even though I'm a bit embarrassed by it now, it put me in a very select club. Not many writers can say they've had a feature film produced by someone other than their relatives or credit-card company. But I didn't write that bit about them eating their own dog, I didn't even know about it till the premier”.
Let’s introduce The Fringe, when will the series appear on TV and what Matthew’s character as a co-star for this up-coming series. “Ahh… Fringe. Well they moved to Canada (New York burned through its tax-incentive money too early and lost a couple of productions as a result; there's the nuts and bolts part for you). So I was only in the first season as an FBI agent who's never named directly, although Peter (Joshua Jackson) does jokingly refer to me as "Mr. Protocol." It's on FOX.
In the Acting and Film Industry along with being a screen writer, Matthew wants people to know “Making a life in the entertainment business can be so totally draining at times that you’re tempted to answer "nothing." But that's not true either. The media focuses on "stars" and rightly so, they are stars for a reason, but there are literally thousands of working and middle-class actors/writers/etc out there and getting to be a part of that is a reward...not a terribly well paying one mind you, but a reward. Beyond that, however, sometimes you get to see that connection, be it through an audience reaction, or a review, or a well-placed piece of fiction...and that's why we're all in it really.”
I told Matthew I would be honored to give thousands of readers a peek at his biography that is also on his web site along with more enjoyable links to view, everything you can find and read at:
www.MatthewQuinnMartin.com
The following source is on Matthew's web site under his biography. Visit his web site to read more!
© 2009 Matthew Quinn Martin. All Rights Reserved.
Matthew Quinn Martin is a New York based writer. His original screenplay Slingshot was made into a feature film starring Juliana Margulies, David Arquette, Thora Birch, Balthazar Getty and Joely Fisher. Slingshot had its premiere at the TriBeCa Film Festival, 2005, has been featured on Access Hollywood, and is currently on DVD, distributed by the Weinstein Co.
Matthew's prose fiction has been published (or is forthcoming) in Transition Magazine, The Crossing Chaos Anthology: Quantum Genre on the Planet of Arts, and Big Pulp (co-written with Libby Cudmore), Thuglit, MFA/MFYou Literary Journal, A Twist of Noir, Eastern Standard Crime, The Oddville Press, Aphelion and The Flash Fiction Offensive.
His screenplay A Very Good Year, featuring Dan Lauria (The Wonder Years) and Gaius Charles (Friday Night Lights) was presented at FilmFest New Haven. Other works of his have been produced by NYCollective and The New Haven Theatre Co. In addition he has acted as a consultant or ghostwriter on numerous projects for film and television.
He can also be seen flitting around the margins of your TV set...most notably in a recurring co-starring role on the first season of the JJ Abrams created Fringe.
