Meet Matthew Perez

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matthew Perez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew , thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?

Creativity is all about perspective. There is a theory that we may all see colors differently. What if my “Blue” turns out to be your “Red”? I believe creativity works in the same way. It’s about how you see the world and the unique perspective we all have on it. When I write my scripts, I like to tackle the question “What if…?” and combine things I enjoy together. How would that work?

What if the world is not a simulation, but a game show to aliens? Bad idea. But you get the point. Right?

Creativity is about perspective, and perspective is inherently something that cannot die, until we do. Our brains’ ability to tackle ” what if” is bound by our past experiences and limitless imagination. It makes us each unique.

What keeps my creativity alive is enjoying my life with my unique and skeptical perspective on it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I was born in Seaside, California, a small city in the Bay Area, outside of San Francisco. And, when I was one, my ear tubes collapsed, making me “Half-Deaf.” I was a late bloomer to speak. My mother was worried, but my father slapped me on the back and assumed I was a strong, silent type. After a yearly physical, I got ear tubes placed in my ears, but the damage was already done.

I fell behind my classmates in class. I was held back due to my inability to read and write, and I had speech therapy for a lisp that wouldn’t go away. “Elaphent” was “Elaphat”. Writing was the worst and was one of the hardest things for me to do growing up. Give me a book, and I will be able to read it. Give me a pen and paper, and I will let God decide the letters I will mush together to make words.

I would mash letters like “Yudqin,” and to me, it would say “Unicorn.” And I would read it as “Unicorn” Whenever I read the word. It was based on a memory of what I was trying to say.

One day, in first grade, we were told to write our own stories. I wrote about losing my mom at a baseball game, and my teacher made me read it to the class. She was impressed by how descriptive I was for my age, and she asked to hang my paper on the wall, but she was baffled. You would’ve thought she was having an aneurysm trying to read my paper, but the attention-grabbing feeling I felt from having an audience listen to my story never left.

When I was about to begin high school, I moved to the SGV. I was still working out what I wanted to do with my life, and I chose to work in film production. I loved watching movies and telling stories, but I had no idea what I wanted to do. Maybe I should be an actor? I do like the attention. Perhaps I should be a director? I didn’t know. Everyone wants to be Tarantino.

In my sophomore year of high school, I was given the choice of moving back to Seaside or staying in the SGV. My parents were not living together, and I was given the decision on where and with whom to live. I decided to stay in the SGV for my “career”. A career that hasn’t started yet. A competitive career with a minimal success rate. I do feel like I ruined my family by making this decision. I know my life would’ve been different if I had decided to move back to the Bay Area. So as I push forward, I do it because if I fail, or if I stop. I would’ve essentially ruined my family for nothing. I’m trying to move forward with my decision from when I was 15, with no direction. So until I figure out what I want to do, I’ll write in a journal of film ideas I’d like to make one day. Hoping the next idea I write would be the one that would help me “Make-it”.

In college, a friend of mine, Charlie, needed a sound mixer for an upcoming project. Although I never considered sound, I recently finished a class. Good enough, right? From this shoot forward, I became a sound mixer on countless projects and loved it. I met amazing people on set, and made a lot of soundie buddies like my friends Pau and Gavin. And my Sound Mentor, Marcos, from Death by Boom. I didn’t know why I loved sound the way I did. Out of all positions I could’ve seen myself doing, why sound? Then I had flashbacks to the days I couldn’t pronounce “Elaphent” and realized how much sound meant to me since the beginning. There was a time in my life when I couldn’t hear a thing. My life would be different if my condition had never been noticed. To truly appreciate something is almost to lose it. That’s why I fell in love with sound mixing.

But while thinking about “Elephant”, I thought of a different animal, “Unicorn”. I found a book I made when I was in high school. They were horrible ideas. But the passion hit me again. I am a storyteller at heart. I started writing again because there was a time in my life when I couldn’t do that either. I met my writing mentor Nick, and had screenwriting professors who saw potential in me and stayed in touch like Alonso. I wrote scripts that won best comedy awards, and worked on sound projects that I am incredibly proud of.

I’m a writing and sound mentor to Kevin, Jeffrey, Sam, Adam, Delaney, Marck etc.

I am a screenwriter. Focused on dysfunctional family comedies, over-the-top dramas, and what-ifs.

I am a sound mixer. I’m focused on capturing the best Sound with minimal disruptions.

This is who I am. I am the byproduct of everyone who loves me and everyone I love. Thanks to my Family, Friends, Mentors, and love, Angelica. I became more than 15 year old ever thought I would be. But the one aspect of my life I am not content with is the question, “Am I enough?”. I don’t know if I am or I’ll ever find myself in a position where I can confidently say I am. But I’m taking it one day at a time, and I’m happy with my progress so far.

I do want to empathize. There are so many more people in my life who helped me discover who I am, and I know I didn’t list them. Not because I didn’t want to, but because I am lucky to have so many people on my side. I can’t list everyone. But they know who they are because I am very vocal about my love for them.

As of expressing this story of my life, I am a freelance Soundmixer and Screenwriter by hobby. I am working on a few projects, and I hope to film them one day. Or perhaps find a producer or manager who is interested in them.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Three vital areas of Knowledge.

1. Always do the right thing. It’s what makes you a good person; good people will always make it further than someone who only cares about themselves.

2. Don’t just learn from your mistakes, Learn from the mistakes others made on top of yours.

3. If you are worried about falling behind in life, keep going. You are further ahead than you realize.

Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?

I’ve been going to therapy a lot. It’s been helpful when I feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to manage my emotions. But at least it means I’m human.

Some things my therapist and I talk about are pain indicators. – Things that are the source of feeling overwhelmed.

Identify the source of stress. Internal? External?

Then close your eyes. Take two small inhales through your nose. Hold them for four seconds, then exhale through your mouth.

It’s a type of meditation.

Now, things can get crazy. Remember when I said to identify your stress indicators? Try to imagine the first time you felt that emotion. Remember how young you were when you first felt scared, stressed, or anxious. Now, imagine your current self walking into the room or area when it’s happening, watching the younger you go through confusing emotions. They need guidance.

What do you say to them? What will you say or do to make them feel better? Re-parent yourself.

Move forward with your life with the best intentions of the younger you in your heart. Taking care of them is to take care of yourself. Things will always seem scarier when doing things alone.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @Mattchugram.fdx
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-perez-487050228/
• Other: IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm13378620/?ref_=fn_all_nme_1