Matei was born in Constanta, a city on the shore of the Black Sea, in Romania. He discovered and developed his love for performance art by being part of a French theatre group with which he toured at different festivals around Europe. During this time he attended the Cambridge Certified High School “George Calinescu.” He left his country at the age of 18 on an Academic Achievement scholarship to get a degree in Theatre Arts at Coe College in Cedar Rapids, IA. Throughout the next 4 years, Matei appeared in several stage plays at Coe, including lead roles in plays such as Electra or supporting roles at the renowned Cedar Rapids Theater such as Ferdinand in Tom Stoppard’s Rock’n’Roll. In his final year he directed his first stage play called The Actor’s Nightmare by Christopher Durang, which added an emphasis in Directing to his major, and would end up being the new direction of his career. In addition to Theater Arts, Matei also got a degree in Public Relations to round out his liberal arts education.

After college, Matei decided to pursue his passion for directing by moving to Los Angeles where he got his Master's Degree in Filmmaking in September. During his time here he has developed and defined his affinity for comedy by writing, producing and directing as many short films, music videos and commercials as possible.SuperCrew, Agent Steele and Disruption are just a few of the shorts he has made that are currently being run through film festivals.

 

Currently, Matei serves as a producer/director for the new comedy sketch web series called King Bachelor’s Pad where he works very closely with his good and very talented friend, Andrew Bachelor. They both spent two weeks this summer in Jamaica where they did charity work through the RuJohn Foundation, a foundation that enables children from poor backgrounds to pursue higher education. When the summer is done, Matei will focus on getting his first feature off the ground, My brother, Costel, which is a hilarious examination of cultural shocks, experiences and clashes; think Romania meets Iowa meets Los Angeles.

Matei considers that although still quite young, his life has offered him plenty of experiences so far from which he is able to draw and reflect upon in his work. He has been a very lucky man and realizes that he has much to give back to the world. He is thankful for the opportunities, and for his family that has always been in his corner.