  matthew de vere drummond (born matthew allard robert vaughn; 7 march 1971), best known as matthew vaughn, is an english film producer, director and screenwriter. he is best known for producing such films as lock, stock and two smoking barrels (1998) and snatch (2000) and directing the films layer cake (2004), stardust (2007), kick-ass (2010), x-men: first class (2011) and the upcoming kingsman: the secret service (2015). ==film career== vaughn was educated at stowe school, buckingham. taking a gap year between stowe and university, he travelled the world on a hard rock cafe tour and landed in los angeles, where he began working as an assistant to a director. he returned to london, attending university college london where he studied anthropology and ancient history. he dropped out of university after a few weeks, and aged 25, he produced a little-seen thriller, the innocent sleep (1995), starring annabella sciorra and michael gambon."movies â interviews: matthew vaughn". bbc. retrieved 22 june 2012 vaughn continued as a producer on close friend guy ritchie's film lock, stock and two smoking barrels. the film was a critical, popular and financial success, earning vaughn and ritchie Â£9 million each. vaughn would later produce ritchie's snatch and swept away. he made his directorial debut in 2004 with layer cake. the film was well received and its success led to vaughn being tapped to direct x-men: the last stand but he later dropped out only two weeks before filming began. vaughn was subsequently very critical of brett ratner's direction of x-men&nbsp;3. he next co-wrote and directed [[stardust (2007 film)|stardust]
1971_births Alumni_of_University_College_London Best_British_Director_Empire_Award_winners English_film_directors English_film_producers English_screenwriters Living_people People_from_Bury_St_Edmunds