About Matt Tabak
Matt Tabak is a script consultant based in Los Angeles. He is a former studio executive at Touchstone/Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros., a WGA screenwriter and director for 30 years, an attorney, and a lecturer at Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
- Current role
- Script consultant; lecturer, Dodge College of Film and Media Arts, Chapman University
- Studio career
- Touchstone/Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros., Jerry Bruckheimer
- Projects developed
- 150+, with more than 2,000 scripts read
- Writing
- 25+ screenplays and pilots; WGA member for 30 years
- Directing
- Auggie Rose (released as Beyond Suspicion, 2000; feature directorial debut), Every Breath You Take (2003), The Investigator (1994; directorial debut, called “the long-lost Coen Brother” by Entertainment Weekly)
- Nominations
- Writers Guild of America Award, Adapted Long Form, The Stranger Beside Me (2004, shared with Matthew McDuffie); CableACE Award, Dramatic Series, The Showtime 30-Minute Movie (1995)
- Law
- Former Wall Street transactional attorney
- Based in
- Hollywood, Los Angeles
Studio executive career
Developed
Pretty Woman
Developed the script 3000, which became Pretty Woman, and coached Julia Roberts on her audition.
Bought & developed
Face/Off
Bought the screenplay after every other studio had passed, and developed the project.
Discovered
Andrew Kevin Walker
Gave the future writer of Se7en his first screenwriting job.
The notes
The Katzenberg rewrite
His notes on one project were so good that Jeffrey Katzenberg (Chairman, Walt Disney and DreamWorks) wanted him to rewrite the script.
Hired and worked with
- J.J. Abrams
- Ang Lee
- Tony Scott
- Sidney Lumet
- Brian Helgeland
- Jeph Loeb
- Chris Keyser
- Jonathan Hensleigh
Writing and directing
Studio system. Indie world. Streaming universe. Matt has worn every hat.
- Rom-coms
- Psychological thrillers
- Historical epics
- Biopics
Adapted
The Brothers Karamazov
Dostoyevsky's novel, adapted for Francis Ford Coppola and Sony Pictures.
Wrote & directed
Auggie Rose
His feature directorial debut, starring Jeff Goldblum and Anne Heche. It premiered on Cinemax and was released on video as Beyond Suspicion.
Matthew Tabak should be out there directing big Hollywood movies all the time… so sensitively and beautifully conceived and scripted, and so dazzlingly directed.
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | The Other Zoey | Writer, producer |
| 2016 | Manson's Lost Girls | Writer |
| 2012 | 666 Park Avenue (1 episode) | Writer |
| 2004 | Plain Truth | Teleplay |
| 2003 | Every Breath You Take | Writer, director |
| 2003 | The Stranger Beside Me | Teleplay |
| 2002 | Point of Origin | Writer |
| 2002 | Obsessed | Writer |
| 2000 | Auggie Rose / Beyond Suspicion | Writer, director |
| 1994 | The Investigator | Writer, director |
Teaching
Matt is a lecturer in Film and Media Arts at Chapman University's Dodge College. He previously taught screenwriting at the University of San Francisco and has given pitching seminars across the country.
Law and business
Matt is a former Wall Street transactional attorney. He has advised writers, directors and producers on deal-making, contracts and career strategy.
Working with Matt
Matt offers screenplay notes, TV pilot notes, treatment analysis, logline punch-ups and career, deal and production advice. Every service includes a live conversation by Zoom or phone. See screenplay notes and rates.
Elsewhere
Last updated