A magazine and online journalist since 1998, I am currently the Deputy Editor at Star. I began writing TV scripts in 2009, and have penned three comedy pilots and three specs of current shows since.
I grew up in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn and graduated Cum Laude from Albany State University as an English Major.
I have an MA in Journalism from New York University and I’ve interned at The Village Voice and New York Daily News.
I joined the launch team of Stuff in 1998 and worked as an editorial assistant, staff writer and associate editor there for four years. I went on to work as a senior level editor at Ramp and Men’s Fitness. I then switched gears from men’s monthlies to women’s gossip and entertainment weeklies with stints at Life & Style and Star. I have also written hundreds of freelance articles for a wide spectrum of publications and websites.
Television has always been my favorite medium for art and entertainment, but my passion for TV writing began when I first covered the Television Critic’s Association (TCA) press tours in 2008. At the time I was the Entertainment Director at Star and part of my job was to watch and critique pilots as well as interview the stars, writers and producers of these shows. It was quite an education and also demystified the process. That experience convinced me that with an inventive idea, creative approach and mastery of the mechanics I could also write for TV. That’s when I began teaching myself the craft and actually writing scripts, which leads me to where I am now.
I live across the Hudson River from New York City in Jersey City with my wife Randi and our beagle Stella. In my spare time I blog at my website MattCoppa.com and work on my scripts, a few of which have made it to the finals of several TV writing competitions — most recently this year’s Austin Film Festival Teleplay Competition and Fresh Voices Screenplay Competition.
