11/20/2023 | Sullivan Huebner, VP of Strategic Initiatives
Matthew Brewbaker, CEO of VEU, is an entertainment technology powerhouse. With over 15 years of experience, a history of success in the film industry, and four previous business ventures under his belt, Matt has engaged his passion for emerging entertainment technologies by pursuing the creative opportunities presented by XR and AI.
“What the metaverse does is it gives us a place that we could only dream about … to really walk into that dream and to experience it, I think that’s what the metaverse is.”
Matt’s career found its roots deep in the entertainment development industry. While working for media titans like New Regency, The Donner’s Company, and Ithaka, he developed an appreciation for how technology could enable creativity and spark innovation. This became a common theme, as Matt now seeks to push the bounds of creative expression through technology, both in film and in business.
Soon after, production work on Hollywood films like “Hancock” and “First Daughter” allowed Matt to encounter the groundbreaking technologies employed by blockbuster films firsthand. He seized an opportunity to work right at the intersection of art and technology, becoming an assistant for Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis and his legendary production company ImageMovers. There, Matt contributed to cutting-edge CGI films like “Beowulf” and Disney’s “A Christmas Carol.”
“I wanted to be able to watch movies in the locations those movies took place.”
More recently, Matt brought social technology to the big screen, acting as the chief producer on social media-based horror flick “Followed.” Premiering in 2018, and hitting box offices as the number one new release in 2020, “Followed” received nine nominations and won five awards across three film festivals, including Best Horror Feature Film. For his key role in production, writing, and editing, Matt won Best Editing Feature Film at the Sydney Indie Film Festival.
Following the success of “Followed,” Matt wanted to turn towards the technology side of entertainment. He founded VEU to focus on tech-forward augmentations to narratives, virtual worlds, and entertainment, leveraging virtual reality and XR alongside AI integration. VEU is now his primary focus, with a vision to make XR-enabled entertainment more accessible through a narrative-driven, community-focused AI recommendation engine.
“Communities are going to define the metaverse, and the metaverse is in turn going to define the communities.”
As the CEO of VEU, Matt takes a particular interest in the production and development side of the company, ensuring that virtual entertainment products are delivered on time in user-ready condition. His previous experience in the film industry, both in production and management, enables him to wield a creativity-focused approach to management, accelerating team progress through Agile workflows and strategic internal communications.
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