After relocating from Philadelphia to Atlanta in 2010, Shaun Mathis retired from life as a novelist and began writing for the screen. Now, 9 years later, Shaun is a writer, director, producer, and co-owner of Laconic Productions.
In 2012 an internship with Sharon Tomlinson of Studio 11 Films kick-started his professional career. After completing Tomlinson’s writing program, Mathis began penning scripts for the independent production company. Later interning at Ralph Wilcox Productions, Mathis gained continued experience as a production assistant and script reader. In 2014 Eyeam Cinema commissioned Mathis to write an 8 episode web series, the success of which led to the development of several other projects for the production company.
After 4 years of building his craft, Mathis ventured out on his own to write, direct, and produce his first 2 web series: Rich Brothers (Drama) and Threesome (Comedy). To date, these early projects have alone accumulated 57 film festival selections and several wins. Shaun’s first break came in 2015 when he accepted an invitation to be a writer and co-producer on the short film "Take Over Your Trap”. Starring Grammy nominated hip hop artist 2 Chainz, the short premiered at the 2016 South by Southwest Film Festival. With a major artist collaboration on his resume, Shaun went on to write, direct, and produce his first feature film “The Plug” in 2016. Securing distribution via Amazon Prime Video, “The Plug” has garnered over 4.6 million views since December 2017. Keeping the momentum, Mathis’ documentary “Miles in the Life”, executive produced by Benny Boom and narrated by Clifton Powell, obtained distribution at 2017’s American Film Market film conference and will release publicly Oct. 2019.
When not writing or filming, Shaun can be found heading up Atlanta content development initiatives, instructing one of Atlanta’s only Writer’s Rooms or mentoring upcoming filmmakers.