We recently connected with Matthew Gallagher and have shared our conversation below.

Matthew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

Honey and Clover: A Recipe for Disaster is a short film that I co-wrote with my wife Theresa Burkhart Gallagher and Jackie Monahan. It was directed by Andrea Maxwell and was the first-time people were filmed doing material I wrote that wasn’t stand-up comedy or storytelling. Theresa and Jackie starred in the film, and it was a difficult and wonderful experience. As a producer on the project, I was involved from start to finish. The film took on a life of its own on the festival circuit. We screened at Short Film Corner, Cannes Cort Metrage, Bentonville Film Festival, and Dances with Films. We also won Best Comedy Short at the Manhattan Film Festival and won Best Short Film at the Franklin International Independent Film Festival.
That experience and working with that team which also included Diana C. Zollicoffer gave me the confidence to start writing my feature film script and produce another short film with Andrea, Diana and Theresa.
My script is finished and made it to the second round of the Austin Film Festival Script Competiton. The second short film, Nana Dara is Gay, is finished and premiered at the American Pavillion Emerging Film Maker Showcase, at the Cannes Film Festival.
This all started because my wife encouraged me to help write something that would keep me creating after I had put the brakes on my stand-up career.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

My path to the arts really started when I left New Jersey and ended up doing a play in Arizona. I was put on a journey that led to Improv for a short time, and finally to stand-up comedy. I studied acting at a conservatory for two years, did a few more plays and got an audition for Mitsy Shore at the Comedy Store in LA. She said I was good but needed more stage time, so I moved to New York City and started doing as many shows as possible. For seven years I developed my craft, doing an occasional play and booking a few commercials. I got cast in a play written by an old classmate from Los Angeles, Theresa Burkhart. This led to us dating, getting married and eventually moving to LA. This is where I decided to try my hand at writing. It was a completely different art form from stand-up writing and took me a long time to develop the craft.
It may seem like a smooth journey, but it was really sloppy and not very pretty. The story of my life before stand-up is documented on the special, Matt Gallagher: A Stumble in the Woods, available on most streaming platforms. Just know that my life got full when I started pursuing the arts. My goal was never fame or riches. I liked feeling alive and part of the creative world. Today is amazing because I’ve never been so excited about what I am working on and what possibilities the future may hold.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As a creative my most rewarding things are experiences and internal. It’s not stuff or possessions. It is the joy of feeling alive in the process of creating. The walking through fear when you put pen to paper or tell a story on stage. It isn’t something you buy, it’s something you do. The doing, not the result, is the reward.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Society, especially cities can support artist by making sure there are affordable places to live close to the city. Artists make a city feel alive and vital. If nobody can afford to even struggle near a downtown, then the artist can’t be in a place to grow and the downtown will fade and wither.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mattgallagherstories
• Youtube: @mattgallagherstories
• Other: Matt Gallagher: A Stumble in the Woods Stand Up Special

Image Credits
Getty images