Born Matthew Raymond Merz in Philadelphia, PA. As a youngster he always wanted to host a radio show. At age 10 Matthew and his cousin would pretend to host their own sports show and record on a cassette player. Matt’s classmates always told him he “would be a broadcaster†one day. Matt never took them serious and as he started high school he still had the passion for sports, but faded away from wanting to be on the radio. After being withdrawn from high school for one year, Matt decided to attend Community College of Philadelphia. Matt was undecided as to what he wanted to major in. In 2002 Matt transferred to Temple. Matt majored in Sports and Recreation Management. 2002 would also be the year he found a new passion…screen-writing. He met Chet Johnson working at the Internal Revenue Service and Chet was working on one of his screen plays. Matt, being the inquisitive person that he is, would ask Chet about his own screen play and then shortly after would team up with Chet and write their first screen play together. The title of the script, D.G., is based on the life of a recovering Degenerate Gambler who is introduced to a family of organized crime. Matt and Chet even tried filming D.G, but would quickly realize that you need more than a few actors and a camera. You need a lot more! Matt and Chet reluctantly filmed a trailer for the film. Matt didn’t get discouraged and continued to write. Matt graduated from Temple University in the summer 2004 and left for a brief stint to work in Florida. Matt wrote another screen-play while he was in Florida. In the Trenches is about a young boy growing up and struggling to do right and living with his drug addictive mother. This script is special to Matt because he incorporated a lot of his childhood experiences and wrote it in the perspective as if his mother raised him. Matt was raised by his father. When he came back to Philadelphia in December 2004, Matt and Chet teamed up again this time to write a comedy-short, which was named Operation: Get Rid of Pinky. In the summer of 2005 Matt and Chet filmed the short. Not all too enthused by the way the film turned out, Matt and Chet began to work on the feature length script to Operation: Get Rid of Pinky. In 2006 Matt and Chet wrote and filmed another short called V-Day. How-ever, this film was never finished. Matt, getting a little discouraged, took a little time off as he began to question the whole movie thing. It wouldn’t be until Matt met DJ Crock that he would get his first passion back…radio. DJ Crock, amazed at Matt’s wit and spur of the moment and ability to come up with edgy material, approached Matt about being part of his radio show team. “My Block†premiered in February of 2007 on www.myhoodradiostation.com. Shortly after its debut “My Block†was the highest rated show on the site. Matt, alongside DJ Crock, encourages talk and vigorous debates about anything from entertainment, music, politics, and, of course, sports. You can also catch “My Block†on www.thebestjams.com. In May of 2007 Matt was approached by friend and actor Lionel Anthony Cook. Lionel wanted Matt to help produce his movie short Streets Keep Calling Me. How could Matt resist? Matt also has a small role in the film. Matt feels that he has already been blessed to meet Chet Johnson, who introduced him to screen-writing. Furthermore, he is thankful to have the opportunity to work with up-and- coming actors Lionel Cook and Sakinah Bingham. Last but not least, Matt is grateful for meeting DJ Crock, who helped give him his first shot on the radio. Matt continues to work towards becoming a double-threat both in radio and film. Matt doesn’t want to be the next anyone since he is the first Matthew Raymond Merz.
V-Day Trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPmKC0aElQM
V-Day - Finding true love around the holidays can be rough, especially for Chris. He is a hopeless romantic, who with the help of his friend, Shawn, hopes to find the “right one†to spend the holidays with. This film will keep the audience guessing who is the “right one†and which holiday it is. (Written by Chet Johnson & Matthew Merz)
