BIO

Filmmaker Mateen Kemet is a Bronx, New York original.  He‘s written and directed 12 short films, 1 music video, and 11 screenplays since changing his life-path from Wall Street bond trader to public school teacher, and finally, to filmmaker.  

Mateen Kemet is a dynamic filmmaker originally from The Bronx, New York,  now living the New York – LA shuffle.  He has written and directed 12 short films, 1 music video, 11 screenplays, and multiple commercials since transitioning from Wall Street bond trader and public school educator. Along the way he‘s won 17 film prizes, including a Director’s Guild Award and the FESPACO Special Director’s Prize.   Additionally, he was a Fox Searchlab Fellow, and a Rockefeller Foundation Media Fellowship nominee. As a finalist on the Steven Spielberg film based reality competition, On The Lot, Mateen placed 7th out of 12,000 worldwide applicants. 

Current projects include: The Sundarbans Tiger, an animated story about a young tiger fending for himself in the jungle after his mother is poached; The Lower Bottom; a Bay Area story about a millennial‘s directionless pursuit of love and success in the harsh neighborhood of the same name; and The Adjunct, a darkly comedic exploration of the complex but crumbling life of a middle-aged professor.  Lastly, Mateen is the Creative Director, and founder of Elephant Creative Media, a New York based commercial production company that lives in the nexus of race, class, gender, and commerce.

Mateen holds a BA in Economics from San Francisco State University, an MFA in Film Production from Chapman University, and a Ph.D from the School of Hard Knocks.  He is a lifelong practitioner of Wing Chun Kung Fu, and a rabid New York Jets fan.