Studying film at both Centennial College and Humber College, Matt first separated himself by winning a writing award for his first short film If Six Were Nine, which was nominated to be included in the TVO TELEFEST ‘99 of student work.

After taking acting classes, Matt secured an agent and began landing roles instantly and consistently. Other than being in more than a dozen national commercials (Oh Henry, McDonalds), Matt was a lead character in the first season of CBC's Spynet, Showtime's MOW A Separate Peace, Dawn of the Dead and more. His performance in Shawn Postoff's short film Coming to Terms has been screened at over 30 International film festivals, broadcast on CBC and earned Matt ‘Best MalePerfo rmance’ awards from The Manitoba Film Festival as well as the Yorkton Short Film Festival.

In 2002, Mind the Gap was a project that Matt wrote, produced, directed and performed in. It received a three-day sell-out run at the Poor Alex Theatre. It was then dramaturged and renamed IN BETWEEN, through the Centre for the Arts and invited to be the inaugural production for the Young Company/Noble Players, directed by Matt Hilliard-Forde. It was an extremely successful debut, garnering the cover of EYE magazine and praise for the writing, directing and acting:

‘The feeling is more Streetcar Named Desire than Train 48, as the players chew feverishly on the cruelties and pains of relationships’

‘Thrilling twists suggest that Austin could write a killer mystery.’ Eye magazine

‘Writer Austin also stands out in a scene about two actors taking improvising a bit too seriously.’ NOW magazine

‘Shows how deeply Austin can get inside a characters head in a very short period of time. Most of the dialogue is so realistic you’d swear it was overheard rather than written.’ Toronto Star

His second playwriting attempt Someone was one of 16 plays featured at the 2004 New Ideas Festival. His third, Two People in Complete Darkness, was a finalist for the 2004 Actor’s Retreat.

Matt's last project Credit Role, a short film he co-wrote, produced and performed in, won ‘Best Short Film’ at both the 2004 AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL & MICHIGAN FILM FESTIVAL. Jimmy, his official short film directing debut, has been screened internationally, appeared on CBC’s ZED, won an "Awareness Award" from the Seven Minute Film Festival in Canmore, Alberta, and had the prestige of playing at the 2004 Canadian Film Centre Worldwide Short Film Festival.

Currently, Matt is working on two feature length screenplays - Giant Sequoias and Two Dollars Away - while he is wrapping POWER RANGERS - SPACE PATROL DELTA in New Zealand for Disney/ABC.