Matthew C. Callahan

Matthew Christian Callahan, (born May 28, 1966) is a producer, writer and director. The youngest of eight in a musical family, he was influenced by many musical styles and began violin lessons at age three. His parents understood the importance of film, taking him to the movies often. His father Jim Callahan was professional french horn player in the San Francisco Symphony and Opera who moonlighted as a piano tuner. Playing horn most nights and weekends, Jim would take young Matthew out of school to go to the movies. Jim, a passionate lover of opera, imparted the importance of music in film. By the fourth grade Matt was coaxing classmates to make a short films in the styles of the Keystone Cops, Spaghetti Westerns and screwball comedies. Matt continued with violin, piano lessons and singing in the local children's chorus while delighting in putting on puppet shows for friends and visitors at home. He taught himself guitar at summer camp and acted in skits and short films. Throughout his youth he explored theater and choral music. By the time he finished high school he had performed or participated in dozens of productions including Broadway musicals, operettas, stage plays and oratorios, while touring every summer throughout the western U.S. with the local chorus. One night shortly after graduating high school he tuned into a San Francisco radio station. The newly-hired announcer asked the audience what they'd like to hear. 18-year-old Matt phoned in and said he wanted to hear himself on the radio. Two weeks and many persistent phone calls later, Callahan was hired to run the station's programming from midnight to 5:00am, with a warning not to open the microphone. Frequently he broke the rules from 3:00-4:00am, believing he'd never be heard by station management. But several weeks into his unauthorized programming he was caught by program director Bill Minckler. This earned him a strong reprimand from both the station and the local FCC while also earning him regular appearances on other DJs' shows earlier in the evening. Though his talent for ad libbing was clear, his radio career was short lived and he moved on, trying his hand at stand-up comedy. Callahan set to work during the day at odd jobs while honing his performing skills at night. He performed stand-up comedy, formed an a cappella group, performed Christmas Carols at holiday time, hosted Karaoke events in bars and nightclubs, took small acting jobs in an around the San Francisco Bay Area and, leaning on his radio roots, worked as Master of Ceremonies at local functions, church gatherings, high profile fashion shows, city and county fairs and large trade shows. By the time he was 27, Matt's father and three brothers, who had worked hard to build up a piano tuning business and retail piano outlet in Oakland, CA, called upon him to join the business as a piano tuner. With little or nothing to show for his show business exploits, he agreed to work as a field technician, tuning pianos by day while performing at night. Years went by before Matt decided to finally try his hand at film making. In 2010 he completed a feature documentary, "Beaverbrook" about the summer camp he attended as a youth and young adult. Though not a commercial success, the film won several awards at U.S. film festivals in 2011. He produced a documentary short about San Francisco's Lamplighters Music Theater entitled "Downton By Lamplight" in 2013. He continues to work on small film projects and enjoys playing a multitude of instruments. Matt lives in northern California with his wife, Rhys and two children.