--mattlum.com-- ABOUT ME -- my life my leisure my face my goals my dreams my case

With all things said and done, here remain the facts.

Quick Look:

most recent: taken halloween 2001

Age :: 26
Birthday :: Dec 22, 1976
Ht :: 5' '7 3/4" Wt :: 150
Eyes: Brown / Hazel
Hair :: VERY short brown
Location :: West Hollywood, CA

A Brief History:

I was born in a shrimpy little town on the Texas coast called Freeport. I was raised with utmost love and support from my parents, affectionately known as mom and dad. I lived in the same house with the same parents for all 18 years of my life until i moved to Austin in the fall of 1995 to begin my college education.

I have always been intrigued by the ability to communicate over distances, even short ones. As a child I would often record my granny snoring to shatter the illusions of her denial, set up intercom systems from my bedroom to the hallway, and by the time I was in seventh grade, I had three phones with two-lines in my 12x12 bedroom. Thanks, Mamaw.

When Pepaw bought one of the first Camcorders out on the market (way back in the day), I was the first to use it. My brother would sit in a chair smiling on screen. With several teeth already lost under his pillow having not yet returned, he was my first actor. My grandfather's hat collection appeared on his head, one after the other, through my new discovery of trick photography.

In high school, I joined the band. I played the trombone for seven

while working on a film, fall 1999

years. After scaring my chihuahua to death and marching at dozens of half-time shows, i graduated, mom sold the horn, and slide no longer do I. I was also editor of my high school year book, which i thought pecuilar since i had never taken a journalism class.

Graduation came, I spoke, I left for Austin. The College of Communication was my new home, and Radio, Television, and Film production my major. Here I worked on several student film projects including, "Nora Valdez: Argentine Artist", "Cornfield", "The Chump Sessions", "Versus", "G'Amen!", and "Opium Man".

I graduated in the Summer of 2000 from The University of Texas with a degree in Radio, Television and Film production with an additional focus on e-publishing and information in cyberspace. I also enjoyed my graduate School of Social Work class.

An important turning point in my life is important to reveal. I came out of the closet in January of 1996. What a relief.

My life currently revolves around the gay community. I started volunteering with the Lesbian and Gay Rights Lobby of Texas in 1997 helping staff events and licking envelopes. I was motivated by the sheer disbelief of the homophobic rhetoric that permeates the minds and souls of way too many helpless victims, fueled not only by the Religious Right, but by our very own government. Why do I do it?

With a friend's tender loving hair.

I served as Editor in Chief of The Texas Triangle, The Nation's Fastest Growing, statewide, gay and lesbian newsweekly. I ran into the paper's editor at an Austin pride parade and was asked to begin taking photos.

From there, I began working with publisher Todd Cunningham to develop a website for the paper that could serve all of Texas, even in the places where The Triangle was not being distributed. I knew the Triangle was a very substainate resource for the gay and lesbian community and watned to make sure that even those affraid to pick it up at barnes and noble's could have access at home.

Within a month, Angle Media unveiled www.txtriangle.com. My first website. Affectionately called, my baby.

I worked in the first half of 2000 with the organizers of The Millennium March on Washington as a website consultant, have designed several other websites for the community (see webworks) and was commissioned to produce the Official Program Guide to the March, of which 200,000 copies were printed as a special pull-out section of The Advocate, the Nation's premier gay news magazine.

In September 2000, I traveled to Jeckyl Island Georgia to produce a short-subject documentary on the Driftwood Beach Project. After a weekend of renegade shooting and three days of editing, the final piece was played continuously during the exhitbit in Georgia and will soon travel overseas to the coast of France in a small town called Brittany.

In 2001, i traveled to New York City and San Francisco. In San Fran I marched in the pride parade and attended a screening of my film Opium Man, presented at the Frameline San Francisco International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. I also broke a news story for The Triangle that sparked an FBI investigation.

In January of 2003 I drove my Subaru from Texas to Los Angeles to begin working for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) as the Digital Content Manager, taking our $1 million Digital Initiative to our constiuents and the community at large.

Deadlines are hourly, priorities are everywhere, and sleep is rare. But I love every minute of it.

I do have a few more pics of myself online, which can be seen by clicking here. There are also pics of me in my photography gallery, scattered throughout.

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