Unsigned Hype: A Novel

Booker T. Mattison

Booker T. Mattison is an author and filmmaker who wrote the screenplay for and directed the film adaptation of Zora Neale Hurston's classic story "The Gilded Six Bits," which aired on Showtime. It starred Chad Coleman ("The Wire"), T'keyah Keymah ("That's So Raven," "Cosby," "In Living Color"), Wendell Pierce ("Treme","The Wire," "Ray") and Novella Nelson ("The Antwon Fisher Story"). The Hollywood Reporter said of the film, "Mattison's direction and feel for her characters match up to Hurston's sterling piece of fiction. The short is full of atmosphere and strongly developed characters." Publishers Weekly said of Mattison's novel Snitch, "Author and filmmaker Mattison's sophomore outing reads like its ready for screen adaptation... Mattison has a superb ear and his skills keep on growing." His debut novel Unsigned Hype was published in June 2009 and is in its third printing. Producer Stephanie Allain Bray ("Hustle and Flow," "Black Snake Moan" and the forthcoming "We the Peeples") is attached to produce the film adaptation of both books. Mattison received his Master of Fine Arts in film from New York University where he trained under the tutelage of Spike Lee and Anna Strasberg, and was the teaching assistant of Bill Reilly. He received his Bachelor of Science in mass communication from Norfolk State University. Mattison has taught Literary Criticism at the College of New Rochelle in New York, film production at Brooklyn College and Advanced Directing, Screenwritng and Directing Actors at Regent University in Virginia.