Matt Lieberman is an American

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

. He was the writer for ''

Scoob! ''SCOOB!'' is a 2020 American computer-animated mystery comedy film produced by the Warner Animation Group, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is a reboot of the theatrical'' Scooby-Doo'' film series and the third theatrical film ba ...

'', ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over a ...

'', ''

The Christmas Chronicles ''The Christmas Chronicles'' is a 2018 American Christmas comedy film directed by Clay Kaytis from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman. The film stars Kurt Russell, Judah Lewis, Darby Camp, Lamorne Morris, Kimberly Williams-Paisley, and Oliver H ...

'' and its sequel, and ''

Free Guy ''Free Guy'' is a 2021 American science fiction action comedy film directed and produced by Shawn Levy from a screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, and a story by Lieberman. The film stars Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Utk ...

''.

Early and personal life

Lieberman was born in

Belleville, Illinois Belleville is a city and the county seat of St. Clair County, Illinois, coterminous with the now defunct Belleville Township. It is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Belleville and the National Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows. The ...

Scott Air Force Base Scott Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in St. Clair County, Illinois, near Belleville and O'Fallon, east-southeast of downtown St. Louis. Scott Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the ...

. He grew up in

Randolph, New Jersey Randolph is a township in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the township's population was 25,734, reflecting an increase of 887 (+3.6%) from the 24,847 counted in the 2000 census, which had in tur ...

and is a graduate of

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

Tisch School of the Arts The New York University Tisch School of the Arts (commonly referred to as Tisch) is the performing, cinematic and media arts school of New York University. Founded on August 17, 1965, Tisch is a training ground for artists, scholars of the a ...

. He is married to costume designer/stylist Maya Lieberman. They reside in Pacific Palisades, CA with their daughter.

Career

Lieberman started his writing career in the Walt

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

Feature Writer's Program and has written on several projects in development including ''Short Circuit'', ''Monopoly'', ''Zombie Brother'' and ''Mr. Toad's Wild Ride''. Lieberman sold his

spec script A spec script, also known as a speculative screenplay, is a non-commissioned and unsolicited screenplay. It is usually written by a screenwriter who hopes to have the script optioned and eventually purchased by a producer, production company, or ...

, ''12/24'', to

Chris Columbus Christopher Columbus was an explorer born in Genoa, Italy. Christopher Columbus or Chris Columbus may also refer to: People * Chris Columbus (musician) (1902–2002), American jazz drummer * Chris Columbus (filmmaker) (born 1958), American dire ...

1492 Pictures 1492 Pictures is an American film production company founded by Chris Columbus, Mark Radcliffe and Michael Barnathan in 1994. The name is a play on Columbus's more famous namesake, Christopher Columbus, and his 1492 landing in the Americas. In ...

in 2012, which later became ''

''. Originally written as a found footage movie about two kids trying to capture

Santa Santa Claus, also known as Father Christmas, Saint Nicholas, Saint Nick, Kris Kringle, or simply Santa, is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring children gifts during the late evening and overnigh ...

on video,

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

picked up the script and Matt gave the Santa character a bigger part in the story for

Kurt Russell Kurt Vogel Russell (born March 17, 1951) is an American actor. He began acting on television at the age of 12 in the western series '' The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters'' (1963–1964). In the late 1960s, he signed a ten-year contract with Th ...

. Lieberman's spec script, ''

'', was bought by

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film studio, film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm o ...

and landed on the 2016

Black List Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, ...

. The film was made starring

Ryan Reynolds Ryan Rodney Reynolds (born October 23, 1976) is a Canadian-American actor. He is one of the highest-grossing film actors of all time, with a worldwide box-office gross of over billion. He began his career starring in the Canadian teen ...

and released in 2021. Most recently, Lieberman set deals for two big projects.

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

preemptively acquired ''Yumanzu'', a high concept family adventure pitch. He will write the script with

Kenya Barris Kenya Barris (born August 9, 1973) is an American film and television writer, producer, director, and actor. He is best known as the creator of the ABC sitcom ''black-ish'' (2014–2022). Early life Barris was born in Inglewood, California, t ...

and Adam Kolbrenner set to produce.

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

acquired ''Meebo and Me'', an original comedic family adventure spec script by Lieberman. He will produce the film along with Barris and Kolbrenner. Other projects in development for Lieberman include his spec script, ''Meet the Machines'', for

Lionsgate Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation, doing business as Lionsgate, is a Canadian- American entertainment company. It was formed by Frank Giustra on July 10, 1997, domiciled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently headquarter ...

and ''The Jetsons'' and ''Rin Tin Tin'' for

Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures is an American film production and distribution company of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group division of Warner Bros. Entertainment (both ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery). The studio is the flagship producer of l ...

. Lieberman is represented by

Creative Artists Agency Creative Artists Agency LLC (CAA) is an American talent and sports agency based in Los Angeles, California. It is regarded as an influential company in the talent agency business and manages numerous clients. In March 2016, CAA had 1,800 employ ...

and Lit Entertainment Group.

Filmography

* '' Dr. Dolittle: Tail to the Chief'' (2008) (Direct-to-video) * ''

'' (2018) * ''

'' (2019) * '' Playing with Fire'' (2019) * ''

'' (2020) * ''

The Christmas Chronicles 2 ''The Christmas Chronicles 2'' (titled as ''The Christmas Chronicles Part Two'' in the film) is a 2020 American Christmas comedy film directed and produced by Chris Columbus, who wrote the screenplay with Matt Lieberman. A sequel to the 2018 fil ...

'' (2020) * ''

'' (2021) * '' Rumble'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{IMDb name, 1073238, Matt Lieberman Living people Year of birth missing (living people) American screenwriters People from Randolph, New Jersey New York University alumni