John L Matthews

John said in his book 'Madness on Wheels' that he had been 'trying to match the thrill of driving flat out through a forest' ever since he took to the wheel of a rally car. He loves the movement and fluidity of speed and finds this skiing, mountain biking, sailing as well as flying. John has worked with eight World Champions and races motorbikes in his spare time. He taught himself to record racing engines using microphones designed for drum session recordings. He also specialises in on-board photography and has done this during the Le Mans 24 hour race as part of a race team. He also filmed stunt pilot Mark Jefferies using his technique. He has filmed high speed skiing, rally driving, touring cars, Le Mans winning cars for Jaguar Heritage Trust and many more. This is not a comprehensive biography. 2016 commissioned second feature film project with backing from Northern Ireland Screen 2016 paperback 'Grand Prix the Killer Years' for sale in Waterstones in UK 2015 qualified seaplane pilot, came 2nd in Midland Classic on BSA Rickman 2014 'Madness on Wheels' released as a book 2014 feature film project with BBC Films 2013 Directed 'Joey - the Man who Conquered the TT' released in the cinema 2013 Co-directed 'Madness in the Desert' distributed by BBC World Wide 2011 Co-directed 'Madness on Wheels' distributed by BBC World Wide 2013 took up ACU Trials competition, qualified microlight pilot 2012 won members vote BAFTA for 'Grand Prix the Killer Years' 2010 Nominated Grierson Award Best History Film 'Deadliest Crash' 2007 won 42 Under 42 Award for Entrepreneurship, Insider Magazine 2006 Won BBC Top Gear Film of the Year 'Le Mans - In the Lap of the Gods' 2005 Mention D'Honneur Milan FICTS 'On the Limit' [John owns the trademark On the Limit] 2003 Set up Bigger Picture Films 1999 worked under-cover on C4 Dispatches with former World in Action boss Steve Boulton 1998 took up rallying, National Daihatsu Rally Challenge 1997 joined Granada TV Factual - What the Papers Say/ University Challenge as researcher, wrote XY column for Daily Express 1996 Won RTS Award 1996 Graduated Film, TV, Drama & Literature, Leeds University 1995 Journalist Yorkshire Evening Press 1995 Worked for Roger Corman's 'Concorde Anois', Galway on two films 1991 Sailed Atlantic for 2nd time Read Philosophy at Durham University 1990 Sailed Atlantic for 1st time - wrote about it for 'Palatinate Magazine' 1990 qualified as a pilot 1986 appeared in 'London Assurance', Curtain Theatre Rochdale Aged 16 bought a Honda 50 moped and Fantic 200 Trials bike Aged 10 wrote his first book 'THE Book', a satire - lent it to Scott Taylor who lost it Aged 9 made his first film 'The Death of Mr ?' shot on a non-portable VHS recorder Aged 9 first rode a motorbike, a Honda ST 70 As well as directing and producing, John has staged stunts by way of 'crash re-enactments' and has even been a stunt man himself, being one of the first people to appear on screen in 'Trained to Kill'. He specialises in on-board high speed vehicle photography and has filmed motorcycles, motocross, mountain biking, stunt pilots, Le Mans 24 hour racing cars in the actual race and also for Jaguar Heritage Trust, Touring Cars, ski racers, 70 mph sledges and a whole lot more.