Back in 2003, as Matt was beginning his Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology at the University of Victoria, he was asked to perform in a few short films that a friend was making with a camera he had recently won in a contest. This was Matt’s first taste of digital media production, and it grew into a ten-year long career as a core contributing member of one of Canada’s longest-running and most prolific web-video and sketch comedy production companies, LoadingReadyRun.
Soon after discovering his love of content development and community engagement with LoadingReadyRun, he would go on to become one of the founding organizers of the Desert Bus for Hope charity gaming telethon. A web-streaming event, Desert Bus for Hope integrates multiple high-definition video streams, IRC channels, and social media technologies to foster audience participation. Now entering its seventh year, Desert Bus for Hope is the largest event of its kind, running 24 hours a day for one week each year. Featuring non-stop entertainment, audience events, celebrity guests, and prizes, Desert Bus for Hope has set the gold standard for web-streaming charity events, having raised more than $1.25 Million for Children’s Hospitals worldwide in only six years.
Matt came to the Centre for Digital Media with the goal of building a stronger foundation in project management and content development, while adding to his technical and business acumen. At the CDM he has worked on projects with the UBC School of Journalism, transmedia production studio Zeros 2 Heroes, and Game publishing giant Namco Bandai. He hopes to move into project or production management, and has a keen interest in pursuing a career at the strategic planning level in digital media.