Matthew Solomon, named “Best Emerging Filmmaker” by the RIP Horror Film Festival 2015, was born and raised on the mean streets of West Hollywood, California, where he attended Fairfax High School and majored in “Sneaking Off To Canter’s For Lunch.”
He later attended the University of Southern California School of Music on a Studio/Jazz Guitar scholarship and began his journey in the music biz. Matthew played guitar and bass in several local bands, most-notably Abbey Booth, who achieved much local notoriety. He eventually crossed over into acting while performing in music videos for: Alanis Morissette, The Crystal Method and more, and eventually landed roles on: Las Vegas, The Shield and several episodes of NBC’s American Dreams. Most recently, Matthew landed a Series-Regular role on The Zoo and has appeared in several viral videos for Funny-Or-Die.
Ever the creative over-achiever, Matthew stepped into filmmaking in 2009 with the award-winning short-film Kung Fu Man, which he wrote and starred in. He is a contributor for Geek Speak TV, the Director of the award-winning web-series
“Booked It!" and Writer and Director of his ground-breaking, first feature film, “Chatter”, winner of Best Horror Feature at the Philip K. Dick Sci-Fi Film Festival 2016, winner of Best Experimental Feature at Fantastic Film Awards 2016 and
LA Thriller Film Festival 2015, nominated for Best Thriller at Shriekfest 2015 and an Official Selection of the Nevermore Film Festival 2016.
Along the way, Matthew became highly trained in conflict resolution and began providing services to corporations and universities. Then, in the Spring of 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matthew returned to school to earn a Master's in Public Administration degree so that he could better utilize his skills and privilege to further positive social change. During that journey, he applied the high-conflict issues of policing and incarceration to his coursework. Instead of writing a thesis paper, Matthew was encouraged to direct a documentary on the subject of humane alternatives to policing and incarceration. "Reimagining Safety," his multiple award-winning documentary, was his final project. To date, this film has already received high acclaim and has been seen by close to 1000 people in the United States and abroad and community impact screenings and film festivals.
He later attended the University of Southern California School of Music on a Studio/Jazz Guitar scholarship and began his journey in the music biz. Matthew played guitar and bass in several local bands, most-notably Abbey Booth, who achieved much local notoriety. He eventually crossed over into acting while performing in music videos for: Alanis Morissette, The Crystal Method and more, and eventually landed roles on: Las Vegas, The Shield and several episodes of NBC’s American Dreams. Most recently, Matthew landed a Series-Regular role on The Zoo and has appeared in several viral videos for Funny-Or-Die.
Ever the creative over-achiever, Matthew stepped into filmmaking in 2009 with the award-winning short-film Kung Fu Man, which he wrote and starred in. He is a contributor for Geek Speak TV, the Director of the award-winning web-series
“Booked It!" and Writer and Director of his ground-breaking, first feature film, “Chatter”, winner of Best Horror Feature at the Philip K. Dick Sci-Fi Film Festival 2016, winner of Best Experimental Feature at Fantastic Film Awards 2016 and
LA Thriller Film Festival 2015, nominated for Best Thriller at Shriekfest 2015 and an Official Selection of the Nevermore Film Festival 2016.
Along the way, Matthew became highly trained in conflict resolution and began providing services to corporations and universities. Then, in the Spring of 2020 at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Matthew returned to school to earn a Master's in Public Administration degree so that he could better utilize his skills and privilege to further positive social change. During that journey, he applied the high-conflict issues of policing and incarceration to his coursework. Instead of writing a thesis paper, Matthew was encouraged to direct a documentary on the subject of humane alternatives to policing and incarceration. "Reimagining Safety," his multiple award-winning documentary, was his final project. To date, this film has already received high acclaim and has been seen by close to 1000 people in the United States and abroad and community impact screenings and film festivals.