About

Mathew Miguel Cullen is an award-winning American film, music video, commercial director.
About

SANTA MONICA, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 25: Mathew Cullen poses in the IMDb Portrait Studio at the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards on February 25, 2024 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for IMDb)

Mathew Miguel Cullen is an award-winning American film, music video, commercial director. He is the founder of Mirada Studios with Guillermo del Toro and the groundbreaking production company Motion Theory. Cullen's work has been seen over eight billion times on YouTube, including two of the most viewed videos of all time. He is the only director ever to win back to back Grammy Awards for music videos. 


Through his creative companies, Cullen has directed and produced over 1000 projects. Rolling Stone named him to its annual "Hot List," and Wired called him "a director who is making music videos cool again." He introduced Adele to the world with her debut video "Chasing Pavements" and established Katy Perry's pop brand with the hit "California Gurls." Cullen's video for Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" went on to win his second Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards and Best Female Video at the MTV Video Music Awards. The video would become the year's most-watched piece of content with three billion views and the first female video to pass one billion views on the internet. Recently, Cullen was nominated for Director of the Year at the MTV VMA awards. Cullen has also been honored by Emmy and Cannes and has had work inducted into the MOMA over a dozen times. 


Over his career, Cullen has been a go-to creative force for many of the best in the business, creatively collaborating with and directing icons Taylor Swift, Prince, Beck, Cara Delevigne, Pink, Pharrell, Psy, Green Day, Kygo, Kanye West, and Jay-Z. After founding Mirada Studios with Guillermo del Toro, Mathew collaborated with Guillermo, designing and directing the prologue to his blockbuster film PACIFIC RIM. Under Cullen's leadership, Mirada became a 50M+ a year business and leader in transmedia storytelling, innovating in VR, AR, Mixed Reality, and Experiential Design. 


Cullen recently made the transition to feature films with "London Fields." His strong vision attracted a stellar cast, including Johnny Depp and Billy Bob Thornton, based on the acclaimed novel by Martin Amis. He is attached to direct and produce an original supernatural thriller at Dreamworks and is producing films at Warner Brothers and Paramount. Cullen is also producing two animated shows that he co-developed with Kobe Bryant through his Granity Studios.

He serves on the Board of Directors for Film Independent and has guest lectured at Harvard Business School, USC, UCLA, and the Sundance Film Festival.

Selected Awards • First Video with a Female Artist to reach 1 billion views on Youtube • Guinness World Record, "Most Internet Memes in a Music Video" for Weezer's "Pork and Beans" • Grammy Best Short Form Music Video, Weezer "Pork and Beans" • Grammy Best Short Form Music Video, Black Eyed Peas "Boom Boom Pow" • Emmy, Commercial, NFL Network "Run" • MTV EMA Video of the Year, Katy Perry "Dark Horse" • MTV VMA Best Female Artist, Katy Perry "Dark Horse" • MTV EMA Video of the Year, Katy Perry "California Gurls" • Youtube #1 Most Viewed Video, Katy Perry "Dark Horse" • AICP Next, IBM Centennial, “Think”, Integrated Campaign Award • AICP Next, IBM Centennial, “Think”, Next Experiential Award • Cannes Lion, IBM Centennial, "Think", Events and Installation • Cannes Lion, IBM Centennial, "Think", Titanium and Integrated • Cannes Lion, Mirrorworld App, Best Visual Design/Aesthetic • Art Directors Club Gold, IBM, “Think”, Interactive, Physical Installation • Art Directors Club Audience Award, IBM, “Think”, Interactive, Physical Installation • AICP, Design – HP Hands “Pharrell” • Clio Silver, Animation – Reebok “Wrapsheer” • Art Directors Club Silver, Television & Cinema Design – Fox Sports "Shockey" • AICP, Graphic Design – ESPN "Evolution" • AICP, Graphic Design – HP "Anthem" • Art Directors Club Silver, Television & Cinema Design – HP "Anthem" • AICP, Table-top – Showtime "The Killing Yard" • AICP, Graphic Design – Novell "Line of Information" • AICP, Graphic Design – Sony "Pure Listening Pleasure"