Matthew Carnahan

After 10 years in New York working as a playwright and director (Live Bait, Velvet Elvis, The Elephant Trainer’s Apprentice, Snap, Dogamerica, The Knees of a Cellist), Matthew Carnahan received the Chesterfield Fellowship from Steven Spielberg. He went on to write Driveaway for Tom Hanks at Disney, and to adapt his play The Knees of a Cellist for MGM. He wrote and directed the short film Mailman, produced by Sandra Bullock, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and went on to 12 more festivals and a long run on Bravo. The following year at Sundance, Carnahan premiered his feature directorial debut, Black Circle Boys (written during the Chesterfield Fellowship), to critical acclaim. Carnahan’s documentary about former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, Rudyland, won IDFA and Palm Beach and played on Reel Life, the HBO/Cinemax documentary series. His novel, Serpent Girl, was published by Random House in 2006, to rave reviews and three editions, then published in paper (as Copping Free). On television, Carnahan created the series Trinity and Dirt (starring Courteney Cox), which ran for two seasons. Carnahan is next slated to direct Serpent Girl, which he has adapted for the screen, and is currently working on his second novel, Sweet Mary Sings at Midnight.