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Matthew Holness

Smutch Short Film

Biography

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Matthew Holness

A multi-talented director, writer and performer, Matthew Holness began his career in comedy as part of the Cambridge Footlights line-up alongside Richard Ayoade and David Mitchell. He went on to work on some of the most beloved and influential cult British-comedies, including co-writing and starring in the genre-defying comic-horror of “Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace” and “Man to Man With Dean Lerner.”

His first-short film, an impeccable pastiche of “The Equalizer”, called “A Gun for George”, was produced by Warp Films for Film Four, and is currently being developed into a feature as “The Reprisalizer” with the BFI. He wrote and directed “The Snipist” for Sky Arts Playhouse, and followed this up with “Smutch” – a parody of classic Hammer Horror, which premiered on Sky Arts at Halloween in 2016.

In the commercial world, Matt’s fastidious eye for detail and knack for whip-smart comic dialogue has led to him directing acclaimed campaigns for global brands such as Nando’s and Tango.

In 2018, his debut feature-film as writer and director – “Possum” – received its global festival premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and its US premiere at the Brooklyn Horror Film Festival. It had its theatrical release in October 2018.