Writing
Essays
5Just one more rule
What Brook's law can teach us about effective government $$ n(n-1)/2 $$ Starting an article about government efficiency with a mathematical formula is, at best, endangerment to the clinically sane.
Read →The Day America Died
When I went to bed that night, I didn't know what was about to change. I had a hunch. A nice day of having a friend over. Watching TV. Engaging in normality. I didn't look up the video. I didn't bite…
Read →When you’re reading this, I’m no longer here.
I’m stuck. And you feel compelled to help life become unstuck?
Read →Dear Germany,
I wanted to love you the way you wanted to be loved: with precision, with patience, with respect for everything you'd built to protect yourself. I understood why you are the way you are. Post-war…
Read →Narrowtives
For the past two decades, the world has been flooded with stories. Stories to share, stories to like, stories to consume. The tech giants gave us what we wanted: endless narratives. Transient,…
Read →Anger Issue(s)
3Anger Issue(s) no 1
Wer die Schüsse nicht gehört hat, muss mittlerweile taub sein oder sitzt verschanzt im Turmzimmer. Klar, was nicht sein darf, kann nicht sein. Und nirgendwo ist das wahrer als hier. Mit der…
Read →Anger Issue(s) no 2
Die Schlagzeilen überschlagen sich. Die Uhr steht 5 vor 12. Beim Klima, in der Wirtschaft, die Fachkräfte, der Wohlstand, die Rente. Alles kurz vorm Kipppunkt. Und das schon seit Jahrzehnten. Uhren…
Read →Anger Issue(s) no 3
Wahlkämpfe sind alles-oder-nichts Schlachten. Damit aus dem laufenden Getöse eine offene Feldschlacht werden kann, braucht es mindestens zwei Seiten. Der beste Kriegsgegner, das weiß jedes Kind, ist…
Read →Poetry
2Film & Screenwriting
3BEIL 2025
Logline: Poor Things meet Lemony Snicket but everything is slightly more autistic and it's about siblings trying to reunite before they inevitably die. Personal: Wrote, registered and entered the…
Read →Project IPSUM (AI short film) (2025)
In January 2025, Donnie took his life. One day after his 30th birthday. We were colleagues who started our advertising journeys together - he through Jung von Matt's academy, I through…
Read →SHABBAT (Screenplay Treatment) (2025)
Logline: Think BBCs Luther but jewish and German in the early 2000s. Dotcom crash, reunification, a raw, unfiltered Germany. Dreams of old and new. Intrigued? Read the German treatment here.…
Read →Building
1Work
2Curriculum vitae
San Francisco Bay Area · US/GER dual citizen · hello@mathewcleveland.com Download the CV as PDF →
Read →Pro Bono Projects
Pro Bono Headshots for refugees (2023) I helped the refugee initiative Welcome to Barmbek to make refugees fit for the job market. Great headshots are an essential part of every application. We did a…
Read →Begin here
1This site is under construction. Where the text sounds like Claude, it was written by Claude. I'll rewrite it by hand. Code of honor.