Born with a fiery passion for storytelling and high-SPF sunblock, writer/director MATT MACDONALD grew up in the sweltering desert heat of Phoenix, Arizona. Since graduating the prestigious USC School of Cinematic Arts with his MFA in Film & Television Production, Matt has screened work at more than 50 film festivals worldwide (including Oscar-qualifiers in Palm Springs, Cleveland, and Indianapolis), been highlighted multiple times as a Vimeo Staff Pick, and featured by the likes of Mashable, Kotaku, io9, Bloody Disgusting, Rolling Stone, and HBO’s PROJECT GREENLIGHT.

Collectively, his work has amassed close to 20 million online views. His dad frequently tells him to “keep up the good work.”

For branded, commercial, and trailer content, Matt has partnered with companies like Microsoft, Playboy, McDonald’s, Nike, Electronic Arts, and Toyota, among many others. He collaborated with industry legend Rob Zombie and THE WALKING DEAD co-creator Tony Moore to write and direct an animated short for Ubisoft’s blockbuster franchise ASSASSIN’S CREED, which SPIN magazine described as a “visually stunning and crazy bloody” film. But, like, Matt’s also really nice and funny too. Pinky promise.

His short NOT NORMAL, a 12-minute original narrative created entirely with the video game GRAND THEFT AUTO V, took the Internet by storm and landed Matt a 2018 Motion Picture Sound Editors Golden Reel Award nomination… which he promptly lost to STAR WARS, GAME OF THRONES, and DUNKIRK. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

In his free time, Matt enjoys spin class, theoretical science, and red velvet cake. His favorite Beatles song is “Hey Jude” and he currently has no unpaid parking tickets.