Matthew Van Howe

Matthew J Van Howe was born in Chicago in 1980, and has never stopped telling stories. Embellishing everyday living into fantastic tales, Van Howe's imagination is dark and twisted, yet heartfelt and emotional. Van Howe studied music education at Trinity Christian College while making his first short film "Vetso", based on a comic book he wrote and illustrated in high school. Although the film was never released, it sparked a passion for the medium in him that would not subside. After marriage and a career in education as a teacher, Van Howe began pursuing film headlong, releasing his first professional short film "More Than You Can Chew"(2009) which debuted in the Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival. Encouraged by the initial success, he created another short, "Out of the Equation"(2009), followed by the music video for the song "The Meek" by the band Fashion Bomb(2011). From the experience gained through those projects, Van Howe wrote and directed his first feature film "Voice of the Vespers"(2012).