Joddy Eric Matthews originally moved from Cleveland to Los Angeles to pursue his animation and filmmaking work. But after nearly eight years working for the likes of Sony, Pixar and DreamWorks, Matthews returned to Cleveland and created MadWerkz Studios in 2000, an animation and visual effects design firm.

Matthews and minority partners Rique D. Winston and Peter Li Cheung were glad to once again call Cleveland home.

“All of us had spent a good portion of time in L.A. and New York, but after a while the extreme workloads associated with working in Hollywood takes its toll," Matthews says. “We were all feeling a bit burnt out. It was time to come home to the people who love you.”  

And Matthews has found the area is rich with design talent. “Now I get a chance to work on some pretty good films,” he says. “And there’s a wealth of talent here a lot of people don’t see. There are small teams of people here working on really big films.”

Matthews and his team of six full time creators have built a solid reputation through their work on commercials for Chrysler, General Motors and other companies as well as two films. They are currently working with a visual effects company in London. “We’re becoming more global and we didn’t have to be in L.A.,” he says.

While business is good at MadWerkz Studios -- from post production work to feature films -- Matthews hopes to continue to build on their services and keep promoting Cleveland as the go-to place for the film industry.

“It’s a lot of long hours and lots of hard work, but it’s pretty fun,” he says.

Source: Joddy Eric Matthews
Writer: Karin Connelly