Introduce Yourself : Arthouse horror and dark comedy screenwriter with credits at Warner Bros and the Onion... by Matthew Ballen

Matthew Ballen

Arthouse horror and dark comedy screenwriter with credits at Warner Bros and the Onion...

Hi! I'm a screenwriter with a couple of professional writing assignments overseas trying to transition to an indie/arthouse/streamer career in the US. I was one of a few writers on the international horror flick FRIEND REQUEST, which a random YouTube commenter described as "Unfriended + The Ring but shit." Plenty to say on that, haha, but I'm far from defensive about it.

I optioned a book this year by horror writer Adam Cesare and am excited to be finishing the first draft of the adaption now. It's nice to just be adapting it for myself, though a bit daunting to think about the process of getting it set-up once it's ready.

Just joined the writer's lounge here, as part of my push this year to try new things and push my craft and knowledge of the business further. I took the intensive horror TV class here with Kevin Nicklaus and highly recommend anything with Kevin if you like horror stuff.

I also love comedy and had a short stint producing videos for the Onion that taught me a lot.

Favorite shows I've seen this year so far are EUPHORIA, HACKS, RIVERDALE, I MAY DESTROY YOU, and a million others I'm forgetting. Favorite horror movies I've seen in the past year were THE EXORCIST 3, FEAR STREET, and both versions of THE HILLS HAVE EYES.

Fun facts: I was rejected from NYU's film school as a freshman and had to take a year of cinema studies there before they let me transfer over. I decided to stay a double major in both, but that first year of learning film history changed me forever.

Oh, and I just fled Brooklyn after 25 years in NYC to live in upstate NY. Just wanted to write outside more, and enjoy life a bit more now that it seems we're in the end times!

Hope to connect with anyone else who's far along in their horror or dark comedy journey but finding it hard to go the last 10-25%. And everyone else!

Did I mention I write super long first drafts? Sorry!

Matthew

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