Michael Mattus is a London-born journalist of Jamaican heritage whose flair and oratory has carved a niche of achievement in the international media for over 20 years.
Mattus graduated with a BA
2.1 in Business Studies from South Bank University in 1983. Already
a father of three young children, at the age of 23, the round of
applications and eventual acceptance of poorly remunerated pupil
placement for his intended professional objective in accountancy
forced him to seek additional employment. Having secured occasional
employment as a contributor of small features for West Indian
World weekly newspaper and Melody
Maker weekly magazine during his undergraduate days, Mattus
applied for, and secured a commission as a freelance features writer
for Val McCalla’s burgeoning Voice newspaper during 1983.
His three year tenure at The Voice (Mattus eventually
secured full-time employment on the staff of the organisation’s Black Beat magazine) coincided with the first golden age of the
news organisation’s history. Possessed of a shrewd analysis of
geo-political and macro-governmental situations, Mattus has often
applied his Economics scholarship foundation to his ongoing
investigation of Black creativity and cultural development in modern
art and entertainment.
Over the past 23 years Mattus, usually adopting his alter-ego as
Mikey Massive, has conducted interviews with luminaries, such as
Nelson Mandela, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Lauryn Hill, Rita
Marley, Alison Hinds, Right Honourable Portia Simpson MP, Gladys
Knight, Right Honourable Diane Abbott MP, Terri Mc Millan, Forest
Whitaker, En Vogue, Mary J Blige, Destiny’s Child, Angie Stone,
Faith Evans, Jennifer Lopez, Notorious BIG, Capleton, Tupac Shakur,
Usher, Alicia Keys, Kelis, Mariah Carey, Sean ‘Puff Daddy’ Combs, 50
Cent, Quincy Jones, Barry White, Denzel Washington, Luther Vandross,
Freddie McGregor, Bunny Wailer, Danny Glover, Eva Mendes, Buju
Banton, Roy Ayers, Smokey Robinson, Morgan Freeman, Samuel L
Jackson, Bono (U2), Machel Montano, Sean Paul, Will Smith, Wesley
Snipes, LL Cool J, plus many, many others.
Mattus’ previous international assignments have taken him to
Washington DC, St Lucia, Anguilla, Tobago, Jamaica, New York,
Antigua, Los Angeles, California, Chicago, Paris, Milan, Accra,
Harare, Cape Town, Brussels and others.
Mattus joined forces with Alfred Tang-Chow to co-found and run
the award-garnering Westindian News in 1986; the first
Black-oriented weekly newspaper to include full-colour photos
throughout its pages received a CRE Race In The Media Award in 1987.
Mattus also distinguished himself in the capacity of researcher
to endeavours such as Channel Four’s Soul Train TV programme
(where he worked alongside Jonathan Ross) and BBC2 TV’s
groundbreaking Behind The Beat series.
In 1987 Mattus joined Arif Ali’s Hansib organisation and
completed his NCTJ journalist’s qualification with a distinction.
By 1989 Mattus had secured the Managing Editor post at
Caribbean Times, the Hansib organisation’s flagship title.
Mattus’ tenure at editorship coincided with Caribbean Times
receiving nominations for it’s coverage of events, such as Nelson
Mandela’s release from Robben Island and eventual accession to the
Presidency of South Africa, the campaign for the deferment of the
death penalty for African-American journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal, the
1993 uprising in South Central Los Angeles and the 1992 English
cricket team tour of the West Indies.
In 1998 Mattus left Caribbean Times to secure employment
with a film production venture in Los Angeles; in 2000 Mattus
returned to London and secured employment as a sub-editor with the
internationally renowned Press Association; he also continued
writing by way of freelance editorial contributions to New Nation
weekly newspaper, The Guardian daily newspaper, Essence
magazine (based in the US), Mail On Sunday (You
magazine), Emerge (based in the US) and also Live Listings
and Heritage magazines.
Mattus’ feature on Toussaint L’Ouverture and the Haitian
revolution which appeared in Heritage’s October 2005 issue
was singled out and made available for students who use the Mayor of
London’s Black Scholarship website.
Mattus intends to contribute features previewing the 2007 Cricket
World Cup tournament set to take place in the Caribbean and also the
emergence of the Caribbean as the locale for the world’s greatest
music festivals (presumably, the most delightful place in the world
to experience the planet’s most outstanding music). Are we simply
lucky, or is there something about the culture of the Caribbean that
suggests that great art requires an environment where intellectual
and topographic achievement peak to showcase itself in its best
light? Where better than the family of beautiful land masses that
everyone on the planet craves to visit at least once during their
lifetime?
Michael Mattus aka Mikey Massive is the co-founder and CEO of
Sav-La-Mar Associates, the cultural and media licensing venture
which is responsible for the highly acclaimed Bring You Poppa Come A
Dance showcases.
Sav-La-Mar’s latest co-venture with the BabyFather Alliance and
Barnardo’s is Weekend Fathers, the forthcoming bestseller by
Patrick Augustus, author of the award winning bestselling BabyFather novel series.
Sav-La-Mar produces the ground-breaking Marvellous Recipes
TV show, a series of cookery shows showcasing the music and cuisine
of the Caribbean. Marvellous has become a near cult event in
The Gambia, so much so that the available films are being syndicated
to other West African nations.
Mattus has also co-scripted Patrick Augustus’ When A
Man Loves A Woman, the forthcoming romance movie set in the
Caribbean, set to go into pre-production in Spring 2007. Mattus also
executive produced and co-scripted Patrick Augustus’ BabyFather3
(Does Mi Batty Look Big In This?), the groundbreaking
audio-book (acclaimed by the Literary Council as a “quantum leap” in
adult literacy initiatives), set for release during Autumn 2006.
by Patrick Augustus
Affirmation to Michael Mattus’ professional achievements and
personal conduct may be ascertained by inquiries to:
Michael Eboda, Managing Editor
New Nation
Rodney Hinds, Sports Editor
The Voice