Biography
Matthew Burd is an independent filmmaker, actor, and entertainer, originally from Harmony, a small Township outside of Phillipsburg, New Jersey. From a very young age, Matt became fond of entertaining others in various ways, whether it was acting in plays, writing scary stories, setting up backyard wrestling matches for family and friends, or providing music for his own elementary school events using home stereo equipment.
As time went by, he found his niche, or more appropriately, several of them. When he graduated 8th grade, his father encouraged his love for music by helping him purchase his first set of professional DJ equipment. At just 14 years old, Matt began promoting his own DJ business, "The Hitman - DJ Entertainment," playing school dances, private parties, corporate events, and even weddings.
In his junior year of high school, he began attending half his days at Warren County Technical School, enrolling in the Broadcast Media Arts Program. He learned how to use professional cameras and equipment and how to edit video and audio. He enjoyed editing and seeing his own ideas come to life, so much so that he would regularly stay after class for hours to continue working on projects. Matt credits teacher and long-time friend, Rich Patricia for allowing him to spend so much extra time in the school studio, as this is where he developed a true desire to go to school each day, even returning as a 5th year student after graduation, to continue to learn the trade.
That same year of 2002, Matt was hired by Bonnie Durkin to work as an editor for D-Vision Video, a videography company based out of Morris County, New Jersey. He spent the next decade editing everything from weddings, bar mitzvahs, sports, school events, corporate videos, and photo montages. Bonnie, who has since passed, was a wonderful friend and mentor to Matt, and he is thankful to have so spent so many great years developing his skills and learning from such an amazing, brilliant pioneer of the industry.
It was also during these same years that Matt became involved in the business of Sports Entertainment, more commonly known as Professional Wrestling. As a life-long fan, Matt was given an opportunity and was taken under the wing of wrestling legend and WWE Hall Of Famer, the late Afa "The Wild Samoan" Anoai. He began by putting his emcee skills to good use by Ring Announcing at live events for the Allentown, PA based World X-Treme Wrestling. It wasn't long until Matt began to utilize his production background there. Over the course of 7 years, Matt dedicated himself to the company's weekly syndicated television show, WXW Rage TV as a writer and editor, while also providing camera assistance and lending his likeness once again as an on-air personality, this time as the heel manager, The Purifier. Matt thanks Afa, his wife Lynn, and their family for always making him feel like family, and for affording him so many wonderful opportunities and all the knowledge he obtained through them. While no longer involved in the business, Matt is thankful he got to meet so many wonderful people and even live a childhood dream by appearing on WWE Monday Night Raw in a 2003 skit with Kane and Shane McMahon. Matt also worked as an announcer for various independent wrestling and MMA organizations over the years, and had the privilege of sharing a ring with many of today's wrestling legends and household names.
In 2007, Matt also began accepting videography work under his own company, Innovation Cinema Productions, producing social event coverage. Shortly after, he created a branch of the company called Horror Shop Films, in which he would finally make one of his life-long dreams a reality. From a very young age, Matt was always obsessed with horror films and anything of the macabre nature. It was at this point that Matt finally realized he had the tools and skill-set to be able to produce a short film that he could be proud of. He wrote a screenplay and assembled a group of close, talented friends and associates to help him realize his vision.
Overseeing every aspect of production, from shooting to lighting to directing to editing and everything in post, Matt created his first film, a 32-minute slasher called "The Pizza Man." The Pizza Man premiered at The Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, PA on January 27, 2011 to a great reception, as part of the Severed Sinema event. The Pizza Man was named an Official Selection in The 2011 Scranton Horror Film Festival and the 2011 Greater Lehigh Valley Filmmakers Festival, where it was chosen for competition with only 3 other films in its category.
It was around the same time that Matt was approached by long-time colleague Rob Dimension and began to work on the show "Late Night at the Horror Hotel." With Dimension writing, Matt served as Director, Camera Operator, and Editor for the first series of episodes, which featured b-horror movies infused with the antics of quirky Horror Hosts, Rob Dimension and John Cannon.
Matt followed this up by completing his second short film entitled "Tree Farm", in just one month's time, which took 2nd Place honors in the 2011 Severed Short Film Festival. Tree Farm was also named as an Official Selection of the Jersey Gore Film Festival
"Cuts Right Over" was Matt's third short film and was the Winner of the 2012 Severed Short Film Festival. It was also an Official Selection in the 2012 New Jersey Horror Fest and the 2012 New York Horror and Exploitation Film Festival.
In the summer of 2012, Matt was once again approached by Rob Dimension with an idea he had for a short film. The resulting collaboration, "No Clowning Around," is what Matt would consider his most diverse work to date. While all previous films were strictly of a horror theme, this was something completely different, which allowed Matt to expand his creativity. Rob and Matt worked together on everything from beginning to end as Rob wrote the story, which was then adapted to screenplay form by Matt. Together they worked cohesively on casting, securing locations, and ultimately Co-Directing the film as a team. With a great cast and crew, including former ECW stars Steve Corino and "Big" Sal Valente, No Clowning Around received nothing but stellar reviews. It was named as an Official Selection in the Macabre Faire Film Festival in 2013, as well as appearing in various other festivals. The film was even selected to have its own screening and Q&A at the Monster Mania Horror Convention in March of 2013.
Beyond his film accomplishments, Matt worked as a Mobile DJ for 20 years, as well as acting in various haunted attractions like The Hotel of Horror in Saylorsburg, PA and 13th Hour in Wharton, NJ.
Matt also appeared in the film 6 Degrees of Hell, starring horror icon Corey Feldman. He has acted in various other productions, including audio drama podcasts such as "Under Dead Water" and "Madison On The Air." In Fall of 2020, Matt debuted the "Horror Shop Radio" podcast, in which he wrote, directed, and produced fully-cast audio dramas for one season.
Currently, Matt resides in Bangor, Pennsylvania, where he continues to produce content for short films and youtube in his free time. He enjoys spending time with his family, cooking, watching movies in his home theater, and has a special affinity for live music and attending as many concerts as he can.
Matt looks forward to continuing to utilize his creative side in whatever capacity he can, and hopes to one day, write and direct his first feature length film. He encourages his children to reach for their dreams, and believes the sky is the limit to what can be achieved, as long as you put in the hard work and possess the dedication and motivation to succeed.
