Welcome to the website of Matthew Cooper – director of the comedy feature film ‘Sober’ and director of the horror films ‘H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth’ and ‘At The Mountains of Madness’ among others.

Hi! I’m Mat, and you can see some of my work as a director (in full) below.

There’s also a short biography (let’s be honest it’s all about me) on this page as well as my contact details.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoy reading about me and watching my work – if you want a chat about work, or hiring me, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Matthew Cooper began making short films on super 8mm cine film and VHS video, long before the days of the internet and when TV in the UK consisted of only four channels.

At age 18 Matthew won a nationwide UK scriptwriting competition run by Channel Four. His film debut as a script writer ‘Family Style‘ was broadcast on Channel Four to rave reviews. The film starred Ewan McGregor, one of the actors first ever credits.

This led Matthew to a successful career as a scriptwriter and script consultant working for the BBC, ITV and Channel Four.

Mat was a core member of the writing team on shows like EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks and picked up a few awards along the way (Matthew is BAFTA shortlisted and RTS nominated as a scriptwriter)

In 2019 Matthew began shooting Markham, his feature debut as a director.
Markham, inspired by the work of HP Lovecraft is a rubber reality horror feature film which was shot, guerrilla style over a number of months on a small budget.

Matthew used innovative techniques when working with actors, with many scenes improvised and performers purposely wrong footed within scenes, this created credible reactions and genuine scares. Actors benefitted from being given free reign to build their character and assist with the overall mise-en-scene, reacting naturally to the horror story as it unfolded.

At The Mountains of Madness

Matthew followed ‘Markham’ by writing, directing and producing two other horror films based on the works of HP Lovecraft – these films are At The Mountains of Madness and When The Earth Gives Up The Dead.

These films were released, alongside ‘Markham’ as a trilogy for free on YouTube in 2022 and have proved successful – especially ‘At The Mountains of Madness’ – which is based on a story that defeated both James Cameron and Guillermo del Torro.

H.P. Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

Once the first low budget Lovecraft trilogy was completed – Matthew wrote and directed a slightly bigger budget Lovecraftian horror – ‘H.P Lovecraft’s The Shadow Over Innsmouth‘ – which was released online free to view in 2024. The film was so popular with viewers that Matthew’s YouTube channel was monetised and he became a pro YouTuber.

Sober

In 2025 Matthew took a change of direction when he co-wrote and directed a micro budget comedy feature film called ‘Sober’.

‘Sober’ stars Dean Smith (Waterloo Road, Last Tango In Halifax) and Tom Gibbons (Funny Cow). The film was released in 2025 free to view on YouTube and the film received over 10,000 views on the first weekend of release.

‘Sober’ received rave reviews, lots of press coverage, and an an avalanche of positive comments online, not bad for a feature film which was shot in nine days, on domestic level camcorders and had a total budget of just £7,000.

After the successful completion of ‘Sober’, Matthew is now focussed on further low-budget, guerrilla shoots, in which he will write, direct and control retain control of all aspects of production, distribution and marketing, by keeping budgets low and creativity high.

Skills

Matthew is currently studying Virtual Production, Blender and Unreal Engine, to help him to keep pushing the envelope on low budget film shoots.

He’s also become an in demand director of AI generative video and is an expert on tools like Freepik, LTX Studio, Kling and Runway.

AI Gen Video Director

Influences

As a director, Matthew admires Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, William Friedkin, Sam Peckinpah and adores vintage era John Carpenter and Walter Hill (his two favourite directors).

Matthew prefers ‘show’ and not tell, and likes lean and efficient storytelling.

As a director he runs hard working, efficient, collaborate and friendly but professional sets. He works well with actors and pushes all crew members to deliver their best work, and get maximum on screen bang for the buck.

As well as his own feature films, Matthew is also available as a director for hire, for brands and marketing agencies (and has sometimes stepped into situations at the last minute to help with shoots).

Contact Matthew Cooper Director

If you’d like to contact Matthew for work, you can get in touch with him directly on; matcoop23@yahoo.co.uk