Terry Matalas

Terry Matalas (born December 11, 1975) is an American television writer, director, and executive producer, best known for co-creating and showrunning ''12 Monkeys'' (201518), which ran for four seasons on SyFy. He was a showrunner on the fourth season of ''MacGyver'' for CBS (2020) and the second and third seasons of '' Star Trek: Picard'' on Paramount+ (202223).

Early life and education

Matalas grew up near Raritan, New Jersey. As a teenager, Matalas' favorite movie was ''Back to the Future'', and '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' was one of his favorite shows. He ended up working on projects related to both titles later in his professional career.

Matalas attended Emerson College in Boston, where he met frequent co-collaborator Travis Fickett.

Career

Career beginnings: 2001-2012

Matalas began his career working as an associate on the TV series '' Star Trek: Voyager'' and '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', including writing two stories for the latter. He also wrote for '' Terra Nova'' on Fox and '' Nikita'' on The CW.

In 2011, Matalas and Fickett wrote the graphic novel ''Witch'' for Kickstart Comics. In 2012, Matalas wrote the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' comic miniseries ''Hive'' for IDW Publishing.

''12 Monkeys''

Matalas says he always wanted to create a serialized time travel show. In 2013, he and Fickett co-wrote a spec pilot script called ''Splinter.'' Their script received positive responses and ended up at the offices of Atlas Entertainment, the production company that produced the 1995 film ''12 Monkeys''. The company told Matalas and Fickett that they had been planning to reboot the film as a show, and they wanted the pair to rewrite ''Splinter'' as a pilot for ''12 Monkeys''. Rather than completely rewriting their script, Matalas suggested simply changing the characters' names to those from ''12 Monkeys''. Atlas agreed, and SyFy ordered the series. The show ran for four seasons.

During its run, ''12 Monkeys'' earned both critical acclaim and a dedicated viewer base. The show has been praised for its consistent logic regarding time travel, to which Matalas said that his rule in the writers' room was, "If you have to draw a timeline on a dry erase board then we can't use it." Both the cast and the crew, including Matalas, embraced the show's fandom by interacting via social media to answer questions and give shoutouts to individuals.

Matalas often wrote easter eggs into the series. In the second season, the Emerson Hotel is named after his alma mater, and has a clock that is always set to 10:04 in reference to ''Back to the Future''. Matalas also cast Christopher Lloyd in the third season of ''12 Monkeys'', which he called a "dream come true".

Recent work

In 2018, Matalas sold an original drama series to CBS entitled ''Apex.'' The same year, he was hired as a consultant producer on SyFy's ''Nightflyers'', an adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novella of the same name.

In 2019, Matalas was brought on to the reboot of ''MacGyver'' for CBS, as a showrunner on the fourth season.

Matalas' drama series ''The Last American Vampire'' was announced for defunct streaming service Quibi. Matalas had originally sold the project to NBC as an adaptation of the novel '' Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter''. There is no update since the shuttering of Quibi.

In 2022, Matalas was promoted to co-showrunner of '' Star Trek: Picard'' for the second season and served as sole showrunner for the third and final season.

In 2024, Matalas was hired by Marvel Studios to serve as showrunner for the Marvel Cinematic Universe TV series '' Vision Quest'', set for release in 2026.

Personal life

While making ''12 Monkeys'', Matalas became a parent. During that time, he also lost his father.

Matalas is an official restorer for the original DeLorean cars from the film ''Back to the Future'', and he and fellow enthusiast Joe Walser spent nearly two years working to restore Universal's original hero car. Since its completion, the car has lived in the Petersen Automotive Museum. Matalas also owns a second replica DeLorean, built from parts of the film's second hero car. It has been displayed at the Academy Awards, in Super Bowl commercials, and on ''Jay Leno's Garage''.

Filmography

Television

Notable awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Matalas, Terry
Living people
American writers
American showrunners
American film producers
American male screenwriters
American male television writers
American television writers
American television producers
1975 births
People from Raritan, New Jersey
American people of Greek descent