Meet Matt Harry | Writer, Editor, Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Matt Harry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Matt, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
I never expected to own a business. My father was a salesman. He sold everything from cat food to Crayola crayons. Growing up, he would tell me that everything was a business. Since I was a teenage creative, I would respond, “Well, I’m not going into sales; I’m going to be an ARTIST!”

Fifteen years later, the joke was on me: I discovered that being an artist meant doing CONSTANT sales. I’m perpetually pitching a story, or talking about my brand, or doing interviews with wonderful outlets like Shoutout LA. So while I first thought that being creative was the opposite of business, I realize now that my dad’s career and mine are more closely linked than I ever imagined. Today, I own a company called Codex Arcanum. I produce and sell books, filmmaking, and editing services. I run payrolls for employees. I’ve hired over a hundred people to assist with my creative endeavors over the years.

And I’ve done it all with no more than a fine arts degree.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I always loved escaping into stories. I grew up in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio, in a development where the houses all looked alike. Storytelling was a way to be free of my humdrum existence. Because my life seemed so ordinary, my imagination skewed toward the extraordinary. Magic, monsters, multiverses — I found myself drawn toward anything fantastical. I started writing short stories and plays, then found my way to filmmaking in college. After attending film school at the University of Southern California, I worked as a reality TV editor and wrote screenplays on the side.

My real breakout came in 2017, when I published my first novel SORCERY FOR BEGINNERS. It’s about a group of ordinary kids who find a help guide to magic — something I wished had happened to me. For the first time, my work was seen by thousands of people all around the world. I went on to publish three more novels, adapt SORCERY for television, and create an interactive play called SOMEBODY TO LOVE.

It was by no means easy. I began writing when I was 10, and my first novel was published when I was 41. If you had told me it would take 30 years to find creative success, I probably would have become an engineer. Instead, I kept creating, and I kept putting my work out into the world. Those are probably my biggest lessons as well — whatever your creative bent is, keep at it, and keep showing people your work. Eventually, you’ll find your audience.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I love Los Angeles. Even though I grew up in the Midwest, I’ve now lived in Southern California longer than I’ve lived anywhere. And, not to brag, but we really do have a little bit of everything out here. So if I wanted to show someone the best So Cal week ever, it would have to include the triple crown: food, nature, and entertainment.

First up: FOOD. So Cal does a lot of cuisine well, but no trip to LA is complete without tacos. I like HomeState a lot, but those are technically Tex-Mex. Mariscos Jalisco has a killer shrimp taco, Bread & Breakfast serves up fantastic Armenian cured meat tacos, and Pablito’s Tacos makes a gorgeous burrito with Peruvian cilantro dressing. For other cuisines, I love Joy on York for Taiwanese (the thousand-layer pancake is ridiculous), Night + Market Song for Thai, and Triple Beam for pizza. You can finish it all off with some ice cream from McConnell’s, Salt + Straw, or Jeni’s (originally from Ohio).

Next, NATURE. So Cal has every kind, from beaches to mountains to deserts. I say hit all three — take a morning drive out to Leo Carillo State Beach for tide pools and sea caves, then head to Altadena for a hike through the Angeles Crest. We just tried the Dawn Mine Trail and loved it. Finally, it’s a bit of drive, but Joshua Tree is really worth a visit in the winter.

Lastly, what would LA be without ENTERTAINMENT? I love seeing live shows at the Greek Theater or Hollywood Bowl. The singalongs at the Bowl are particularly fun. If you’re into comedy, Largo has hosted everyone from Patton Oswalt to Sarah Silverman. And you can never go wrong with watching a movie on the big screen. The Vista just reopened thanks to Quentin Tarantino, and the Old Town Music Hall in El Segundo shows classic films every week, accompanied by a live organ player.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
It may be trite, but I have to give a shoutout to my parents. They encouraged my creative pursuits even when they didn’t fully understand them. They drove me to theater rehearsals, they paid for writing camps, and they purchased increasingly expensive creative tools for me. Most importantly, they never told me to get a backup job.

Now that I have kids of my own, I can really appreciate how much of a hassle all this must have been for them. But they never complained about it, or told me I wasn’t going to make it. Quite the opposite — my dad constantly would tell me, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.” He was right.

Website: mattharrywork.com

Instagram: matt_harry_mh

Twitter: mattharrymh

Facebook: Mattharrywriter

Other: https://www.amazon.com/Sorcery-Beginners-Simple-Challenging-Arcanum/dp/1942645686 https://www.amazon.com/Cryptozoology-Beginners-Codex-Arcanum-Harry/dp/1947848828 https://www.amazon.com/Superkid-Matt-Harry/dp/1736502603 https://www.amazon.com/You-Are-Filmmaker-Interactive-Novel/dp/173650262X

Image Credits
Juliane Crump, Jessica Maison Judd, KidLitReviews, Matt Harry