Matija is an LGBTQ+ Australian-Slovenian screenwriter based in Melbourne.

Matija’s feature and TV slate spans absurd comedy, hard-hitting drama and high-octane spy thrillers, often grounded in queer and multicultural perspectives.

He is a creator on multiple projects in development, including an international Irish-Australian co-production with Chris Oliver-Taylor’s Greenlight Media and Ireland’s Newgrange Pictures.

In 2026, Matija was chosen as an American Slovenian Education Foundation Fellow where he is learning producing skills at Staragara, one of Slovenia’s most awarded production companies, and its sister company SPOK Films.

He has extensive screen industry experience, including as the script assistant on Season 3 of NCIS: SYDNEY (Paramount+), the writers' assistant on Season 2 of DEADLOCH (Amazon Australia), and the writers' assistant on episodes on shows including THE ARTFUL DODGER (Disney+) and INVISIBLE BOYS (Stan). He has also worked as crew on short films and web series, and written and produced numerous political campaign videos.

Matija has won or been shortlisted for multiple international screenwriting awards. His political drag-queen comedy pilot, QUEENMAKER, won the Grand Prize in the 2024 CineStory Foundation TV Fellowship, was runner-up in the 2025 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards–Stowe Story Labs Fellowship, a finalist in the 2025 PAGE International Screenwriting Awards and one of the Independent Writers’ Caucus ‘Best Of 2026’ scripts.

Before writing full-time, Matija spent nearly a decade in politics, including as an adviser to Australian Greens senators and one of the party’s lead advisers during Australia’s successful 2017 marriage equality campaign. He also worked as a lawyer in refugee law and private practice, and as a mentor in an Aboriginal high school in the remote Australian outback.

Matija holds degrees in politics and law from the University of Melbourne, including an exchange program at the Institute of Political Studies in Paris (Sciences Po). He is also a qualified fitness trainer and swimming coach.

A lifelong musician, Matija has performed at music festivals, nightclubs, concert halls and on radio, and has recently ventured into stand-up comedy and drag.

He is a native English speaker and also speaks Slovenian, French and German.