We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matt Boren. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matt below.
Matt, appreciate you joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
I have been a storyteller my entire life. Creating characters and new worlds for them to occupy was always the thing that lit me up most. So, whether it was developing new work in the theater or at Tuesdays @ 9 (a phenomenal creative space for emerging ideas/voices which was launched years ago at the Naked Angels Theater Company) I was always in the practice of refining – while failing and succeeding in equal parts – my voice as a storyteller. With the story as my compass, I never cared much about what it would ultimately be, albeit a TV show, a screenplay, a play or just some long-winded, experimental thing. But as I got deeper into my twenties, I realized that selling a project here and there, as joyful and rewarding as it was, didn’t provide enough financial stability. That is when I went headfirst into staff writing on sitcoms and while I learned a great deal not only about fast writing and faster rewriting, but about production and casting as well, I also ultimately learned that the creative fire in me was going out… fast and then faster. It is an incredible thing to write on other people’s shows and the stars that have to align to get one of those jobs (especially these days with the swift and sweeping changes in the business) are a certain constellation unto themselves, AND I was desperately missing the spark, the thing that lit me up. So, I made a pledge to myself to write the first 100 pages of a book that had been burning in me for years. In any stolen hours I could find, I did just that and then I set sail to find a book agent. That took about a year. And then, together, my book agent and I set sail to get a publishing deal. Another year. So many passes, one after the other. But my morale stayed strong both because I so believed in my book and because I had miraculously landed a book agent who did, too. Sidenote – Energy is real! Surround yourself with those who believe in you and your work. You want your team to be your superfans – honest, real, of course… but superfans of you and your work, too! Okay, a year into “sell my first book” and we did. To Razorbill/Penguin. I am currently writing my sixth and seventh books. I am adapting some of my previous books into films, TV shows and plays. The only way to do something you’ve never done is to do it for the first time. There will always be roadblocks on a risky street and that’s okay. There will be moments/days of doubt and that’s okay, too. So long as the loudest voice in the room is yours and your knowing/believing… I do believe endeavoring into new territory proves a more than worthy pursuit.
Matt, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Hi guys! My name is Matt Boren. I grew up in Framingham, Massachusetts, went to Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, moved to Los Angeles and a few years ago I moved back to the NYC area. Love L.A. AND so happy to be back East. I have written on/produced nearly 100 episodes of television and I’ve sold shows (pilots) to MAX, FOX, NBC, ABC, FX, E!, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. As an author, I’ve penned titles for Penguin and Audible, including Folded Notes from High School, which was touted as one of the most “Amazing Audiobooks” of the year by YALSA and Tinaca Jones starring Retta (which I am currently adapting for Off-Broadway.) My Audible Original, Brackish Waters, starring Christina Applegate was an Audie Award nominee for Humor Book of The Year and Christina is now executive producing the feature adaptation we are in development with. My upcoming Audible Original, Minister of Loneliness, will arrive in earbuds on September 18, 2025. I starred in Azazel Jacobs’ Sundance darling Momma’s Man and recurred as Stuart for nine seasons on How I Met Your Mother. Oh, I was in this really cool show called A Booth At The End and I had a great run as the voice for Taco Bell commercials. It’s been a minute, but I do hope to act again. Where and in what? No idea. But as with everything, I’m excited about the unfolding of things.
I am currently writing a book about how I got my start as a professional writer which is much more a story about my childhood and me as a dreamer, so I will leave that story alone for now. Let’s just say it is centered around General Hospital in the 80s.
When I first moved to Los Angeles I felt so overwhelmed (a feeling that never quite went away to be honest) that I needed to find my footing and fast. So I did what I’d done my whole life – I wrote a story. That story became a three-person play and to feel rooted in a an unfamiliar place, I linked up with some friends. We found a theater, built some wobbly sets and put my play up. It was about 70 minutes, no intermission, lots of laughs and loaded with nostalgia. The play struck a chord and long (SO LONG) before social media, word of mouth got us sold out shows and because of that we just kept running the play. Made zero dollars, in fact lost dollars BUT that play is what got all of us seen and that really was what opened the door.
Now, of course, so many creatives get to do their “plays” on Instagram or Tik Tok but what is evergreen, in my opinion, is doing your thing and doing it in the space that is most resonant with who you are as an artist.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Ever since middle school I have wished that every school curriculum required either an acting class and/or a storytelling class. I think learning vulnerability and how to revere it in ourselves and in others would cool our collective nervous system even just a little. Let us see each other more multi-dimensionally. Offer us a chance to care about each other more.
In my experience it is challenging to explain and/or guide others to understand what being a writer (or any artist) means and how all the blood, sweat and tears we pour into our work is as real (if not more real) than what anyone else does at any job. If you can’t point to the TV show you wrote being on Netflix, does it exist? Well, yes, it does. However, while it was written doesn’t necessarily mean it was sold. It is rarely sold! Try explaining that to someone outside of the arts. Not so easy. The 450 page book you spent years writing may not find a traditional publisher. Your paintings might not find their way into the most prestigious gallery. And? That doesn’t mean you didn’t achieve something nearly impossible. It means you have to find alternative doors to open for yourself which is, in truth, all we have ahead of us right now in the arts. Alternative doors. Or invisible doors – the ones we need to map and chart for ourselves and those behind us.
And you will likely come in contact with many people along your journey who say “I have this amazing idea… can you write it for me.” Possibly… for a fee! Would you tell a dentist who you had a great time at a dinner party with that you have some teeth in need of bonding and you’ll just swing by for a free dental sesh?
I think artists, in the right circles in the right towns/cities, amongst the right crowds are absolutely held in regard. Step outside of those spaces, and I’d argue not so much. But then can’t we say the same about tech bros or anyone in any career? I’d imagine the applause one gets in Silicon Valley wouldn’t necessarily be as loud in, say, Asbury Park. Could be wrong.
Okay, I will now answer the question… artists and artistically-inclined people should support artists. We are our own dream team. Take ego and “I want it all FOR ME” out of the equation, and we have a beautiful, altruistic community. I can read your script and support you, you can do the same for me. Your book, same. Your art show, that too. Your play, your reading, your concert. I can not only show up but I can support you to the best of my ability in whatever it is you are dreaming for your project. You can do the same for me.
And on that, I wish I knew about MENTORS! Did they exist back in my early days? Maybe. I don’t know. I felt alone on the path. Does everyone? Now I know that MENTORS are real, not just something mythical. FIND THEM. Foster mentor/mentee relationships. Be the mentor and be the mentee. Both can be true and often at the same time.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.borentown.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mattboren
- Facebook: Matt Boren
- Linkedin: Matt Boren
Image Credits
Michelle Pollack