Matt Ellis

I'm an award-winning screenwriter and published short-story author currently studying fiction at UC Riverside Palm Desert's MFA program for creative writing and writing for the performing arts. My bodies of work span numerous genres - historical documentaries, horror, comedy, war, espionage-thriller, and drama/biopic. For nearly ten years, I was a writer and script consultant for Neal Allen (IMAX Arabia & Pandas 3D) and Frank Kostenko Jr. (We Were Soldiers & Man on Fire), eventually serving as their Story Development Executive at Pacific Rim Media in 2015. I'm also a freelance writer for Publishers Weekly and the interviews editor for The Coachella Review.

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My ability to tackle diverse topics and genres comes from an equally diverse life, ranging from accomplished classical musician to forensics investigator, multiple tour combat veteran, and U.S. diplomat in Latin America. I'm a retired Army Major and senior Department of Defense intelligence officer and draw heavily upon my personal experiences in almost every region of the world in both peacetime and war. I'm also fluent in Spanish and conversant in Korean.