Matthew Clayfield

Media and Social Enquiry

About Matthew Clayfield:

Matthew Clayfield is a journalist, critic, filmmaker and is currently based in Sydney, where he works for The Australian. He holds a Bachelor of Film and Television from Bond University and a Masters of Journalism from the University of Queensland. Matthew was a national finalist in the Rostrum Voice of Youth public speaking competition from 2001 to 2003 and was runner-up twice. He was awarded a $20,000 Nescafé Big Break in 2003.

In 2007, he covered the federal election for Vibewire Youth Inc.’s ElectionTracker project, following former Prime Minister John Howard on the campaign trail for a week and live-blogging election night from the National Tally Room in Canberra. Matthew is also a filmmaker, screenwriter and playwright. Firelight, a short essay film, screened at the Brisbane International Film Festival in 2006.

As a screenwriter, Matthew’s How My Next Door Neighbour Discovered Life on Mars was produced in 2005 and has since screened on every continent in the world including Antarctica. His most recent screenplay, Frog, was produced in Vancouver, Canada, in January 2009. Matthew's one-act play The Ides won the SA Theatre Company’s Young Playwright of the Year Award in 2003.

Matthew's areas of specialty are: youth; national and international politics; media; the arts and cinema from an Australian and international perspective; arts policy

Matthew travels from Sydney.