“There’s a reason your name is on the front of the script”
Richard Gadd, Gurinder Chadha, Matt Charman, Thea Sharrock, James Watkins and Tony Grisoni on endurance and the long game. BFI Southbank, London 2026.
Matt Charman
Matt Charman
Oscar Nominee, Bridge of Spies
Matt used to sneak into the second act of shows in the West End and then read the first acts the next day in Samuel French’s bookshop. It taught him about structure but also what an audience didn’t need to know. After graduating from University College London, Matt did a string of terrible jobs while writing his first play, A NIGHT AT THE DOGS, which won the 2004 Verity Bargate Award and premiered at Soho Theatre. He went on to write five more plays – three world premieres staged at the National Theatre (THE FIVE WIVES OF MAURICE PINDER, THE OBSERVER and GREENLAND), where he was writer-in-residence, REGRETS at Manhattan Theatre Club, and THE MACHINE at the Park Avenue Armory.
Matt was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for BRIDGE OF SPIES– a film he pitched to and wrote for Steven Spielberg. Other film work includes SUITE FRANCAISE (2015), KILLER HEAT (2024) and as producer OPERATION FINALE (2018). Matt founded Binocular to produce his own writing and help champion new voices. Recent work includes TREASON (Netflix, 2022), HOSTAGE (Netflix, 2025), and PRISONER (Sky, 2026). Later this year production starts on two new TV shows written by Matt, DIRTY (Amazon) and WILDER (Peacock).