Mateo Merlino is reprogramming memory through cinema

From Marseille to Los Angeles, a young screenwriter shapes a future grounded in emotion, identity, and the architecture of story.

Los Angeles has long been a place where dreams collide with reality. For French screenwriter Mateo Merlino, that collision wasn’t just aspirational—it was existential. “This isn’t a hobby,” he says. “L.A. revealed that I don’t just love storytelling—I need it.”

Unleash your hidden story

Born in Marseille and raised between continents, Merlino’s origin story doesn’t read like a traditional Hollywood narrative. His early creative spark came from something rawer, less polished: improvisation. “People used to say, ‘Mateo, you’ve got such a wild imagination, you should be an actor or something,’” he remembers. “They were joking—but there was truth in it.” At 15, he began working on a concept for a television series, not yet knowing it would spark a lifelong devotion to screenwriting.

It wasn’t until he moved back to the U.S.—a country he briefly lived in as a child—that writing became his singular path. “When I landed in Los Angeles, I was overwhelmed by the energy,” Merlino says. “But it was the right kind of pressure. It made me want to tell stories that actually matter.”

That pressure found form at California State University, Northridge (CSUN), where Merlino enrolled in the screenwriting program. There, a professor with industry credentials helped rewire his approach to storytelling. “She had worked on some big shows,” Merlino recalls. “That class completely changed the way I thought about narrative structure and character development.” After honing his voice and sharpening his tools, he transferred to UCLA, where he now studies under Breaking Bad writer Kate Powers. “Kate taught me the fundamentals of strong, grounded storytelling,” he says. “She pushed me to write from truth, not just cleverness.”

Secrets whispered loud

Merlino’s creative breakthrough came with Neocortex, a psychological sci-fi thriller developed in collaboration with director Rayen Hediji. The idea was born during an unplanned evening: Merlino was home alone, Hediji was out, and a notebook was nearby. “I started thinking about memory distortion—what if you lived your whole life believing something real, only to realize it was fake?” He texted Hediji: “I’ve got an idea. It’s gonna be about fake memories.” The concept stuck. “That night, the core of Neocortex was born. It came fast, all in one go. That’s the thing with ideas—they hit you when you least expect it.”

What followed was a multi-month journey of sculpting the narrative into something both intimate and high-stakes. “We wanted to do something more contained, but still powerful,” he says. “A grounded sci-fi thriller with real emotional stakes.” Inspired by the constraints of independent filmmaking, Merlino and Hediji stripped away excess and leaned into what makes a story resonate: tension, intimacy, and psychological conflict. “The key is learning what not to do,” Merlino explains. “Big action sequences and sprawling locations sound great—but for indie production, they’re not realistic. You have to scale the story to your resources without shrinking its impact.”

Neocortex zeroes in on themes of identity, surveillance, and control. “It’s not just a sci-fi concept—it’s something that already happened in history, just in different forms,” he says. “Regimes have rewritten identity before. It’s not futuristic; it’s cyclical.” Merlino is quick to note that the film doesn’t preach, but it does provoke. “It’s still entertainment—but the questions are real. What defines who we are? How much of ourselves do we give away without realizing it?”

Embrace the unfinished dream

One of the film’s most grueling challenges came during the writing of a pivotal scene midway through the story. “It blocked me for days,” Merlino says. “The actions didn’t align with the emotional stakes. I had to step back, let the scene breathe. Eventually, the answer came. Sometimes you have to give a story space before it reveals itself.”

That reflective discipline also extended to the structure of the project itself. Neocortex went through several rewrites, title changes, and structural shifts. “You don’t get to a good draft without going through a few bad ones,” Merlino laughs. “But you reach a point where you read it and say, ‘Okay, this one feels right.’ That’s your white draft. It’s not perfect—but it’s clean and complete.”

This evolving, living script found its complement in Hediji, whose dual role as director and co-writer created a unique synergy. “Rayen is thinking visually while we’re still on the page,” Merlino says. “That’s a huge advantage. Sure, we disagree sometimes—but when you both care about the story, you find the middle ground.”

Uncover hidden depths

That middle ground led to one of Merlino’s proudest achievements: the upcoming short film LURED, starring Ryker Baloun. A dramatic thriller, the film follows a young woman who wakes up in a bathtub filled with ice, a fresh scar on her body, realizing she’s been caught in a deadly organ trafficking scheme. “It’s a smaller story in scale,” Merlino says, “but massive in psychological stakes. It asks: What happens when trust becomes a weapon?”

LURED on IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt36468215/ Mateo Merlino’s IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm16786065/ Official Website: https://www.mateomerlino.com Instagram: @mateo_merlino

As a young writer navigating a notoriously cutthroat industry, Merlino finds confidence in being part of both the Dramatists Guild and the Authors Guild. “It’s not just about the title,” he says. “It’s a signal that I take this seriously. It’s given me access to resources, mentorship, and a wider community of professionals.”

Ignite the unseen horizon

Looking forward, Merlino is already deep in new material. “I’m working on a horror feature, another film with Rayen, and a TV series,” he says. “I even started writing a script based on an idea my dad gave me. It probably won’t live in the same universe as Neocortex, but I want it to resonate in the same way.”

And what is the mark of success for him? It’s not awards or streaming deals—it’s resonance. “If you’re driving home after watching Neocortex and you’re still thinking about it, still replaying scenes in your head, trying to unpack what it meant—that’s the win,” Merlino says. “That means the story connected.”

There’s something quietly revolutionary about Merlino’s approach—his willingness to think big while staying grounded, to ask massive questions without sacrificing intimacy. In his hands, the mind becomes both a canvas and a battlefield. His stories don’t just entertain; they haunt.

Question what if

“You start wondering: if this became real tomorrow, how would I even know?”

For Mateo Merlino, that uncertainty isn’t a fear. It’s fuel.