We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Matt Conant a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Matt, first a big thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and insights with us today. I’m sure many of our readers will benefit from your wisdom, and one of the areas where we think your insight might be most helpful is related to imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is holding so many people back from reaching their true and highest potential and so we’d love to hear about your journey and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Writing for TV or film or publishing are all highly competitive artistic fields with lots of very specific rules, and yet what makes a story good can be extremely subjective. This means there are constantly studios, networks or producers giving you round after round of notes based on their opinions, while there is also a throng of people outside the industry telling you they can do your job, or that it’s not that hard and you should be lucky to have it. So in a way, it’s kind of a crucible for imposter syndrome.
I do think imposter syndrome reduces a little bit the more you do something, and the more other people in your field seem to think you’re doing it well. For every round of notes I was hoping not to receive, I wind up finding a new set of solutions I didn’t see before, and often even a clever one that helps me realize I’m good at what I’m doing.
The other thing that has helped me a lot is to reduce my focus on competition and to focus on my own voice. There are countless amazing storytellers in the film industry, and they are all experts at bringing their unique voice to a given project, the same way I’m an expert at bringing mine. In fact, I can’t do it any other way, and nobody can compete with me on my own voice.
When a company puts one of my projects into development, they’re not necessarily doing it simply because of the strength of the idea, They’re also saying they like my voice and my ideas and want to work with me because of who I am for the next batch of months or years, and that serves me well whenever the specter of imposter syndrome rears its head.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a screenwriter specializing in smart comedy and genre projects. I’m a writer on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which was one of my favorite shows as a teenager, and was involved in development to help relaunch it after 15 years. I’m also an author with four completed novels, and I run the boutique production company Cinevore Studios. We produce digital series and short films in house as well as for clients.
I think it’s an amazing career because every day I’m able to create worlds, build new characters, play games, and explore new concepts with my writing partners and the companies with which I work. I’ve always loved comedy and science fiction, and I’m excited that I’m able to do both these days, and that people appreciate my work in both fields.
My first series of novels, co-written with my writing partner Lauren Cipollo, is the Parallax trilogy, coming in early 2024 from Aethon Books. Parallax is a cross between Game of Thrones and Guardians of the Galaxy, and follows the unlikely heroes who rise up to combat a ruthless gene-splicing conspiracy in a corporate-run future. I’m also working on a digital comedy series called “The Box” with co-writer/co-director Jon Callan, and a truly talented cast and crew. The Box follows three app developers who inadvertently create a generalized AI, and now have to pull it offline and test its morality before allowing it loose on the rest of humanity. I’m also attached to a TV adaptation of a video game series that I love, and hope to be pitching soon as the writers strike winds down. And Lauren and I have also just completed a workplace comedy pilot, Keepers, based on Lauren’s 16-year career as a zookeeper.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
I think the three most important skills that have helped me on my specific journey have been creativity, persistence, and a strong sense of humor. I feel talent can be taught and learned more easily than creativity, and I think I’ve learned a lot about structure, formatting and the technical sides of writing and production over the years. But the ability to generate intriguing ideas, worlds, characters, and scenarios doesn’t come naturally to everybody, so I’m happy to have always had that.
Beyond creativity, trying to build a career as a writer comes with more rejections than acceptances. In some cases, 95% rejections. So persistence is just as important. I’ve never been the type of person to hear a no and stop trying. In fact, it usually makes me double down and try harder. I make a game out of throwing my work out anywhere I can that seems appropriate, and trying to fill my spreadsheet of contacts with nos. That way, when a yes finally materializes, it’s a nice surprise. And it rarely happens without a whole bunch of nos and notes and revisions first.
Sense of humor is important to me to help me get through the above, but it’s also helpful because I find just as many people hire me because they like to hang around and brainstorm and create fiction with me as they do for my specific writing. If you’re not fun to be around, or at least personable, nobody will want to work with you, no matter how good your work is. I credit the Simpsons and Mystery Science Theater for helping me find the joy and absurdity in everything, and I hope I’m able to pass that on to others through my own work.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Film is inherently a collaborative business, and I always love finding new collaborators. I get my best work done when I have another brain working on something, and I am currently working with not only a writing partner on most of my projects, but two or three other close friends on other projects ranging from digital series to comics to role-playing games, and I always love it.
I’m especially excited about finding others in the publishing space and the TV world who are looking for new original worlds to explore. I’m a creative, but I don’t have access to a TV network or a streaming service, but I’ve had such great collaborative relationships with other studios in the past who help breathe life into our worlds, I’m always seeking that again. Likewise, my relationship with Aethon Books has been an amazing one, and they’ve done a great job providing editors, cover designers, and creative input for everything from back cover text to book titles. So I always love finding those people too.
One of the easiest places to find me is just through my email, [email protected]. I’m also on most social media as “cinevore” or in some cases, “cinevorefilm”. There aren’t too many Conants out there, so if you spell it right, I’ll probably pop up. Say hi!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://cinevore.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cinevorefilm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mattconant/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattconant/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cinevore
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/cinevorefilm
