Matthieu Vinel grew up in Lorraine in the east of France, a region marked by the steel crisis.
Early on he discovered a passion for the seventh art and devoured the film selection at his local library – Wilder, Clouzot, Murnau, Walsh, Renoir, Hitchcock, Füller, Kazan, Mann, Kurosawa, Clayton, Spielberg, Polanski...In parallel he cultivated his second passion – the piano. He had a relatively solitary adolescence. A gifted student, he spent time with a few close friends with whom he enjoyed tennis and biking expeditions, when he wasn’t at his piano or in front of a cinema screen!
Matthieu’s aptitude for maths led him to engineering school. After graduating in 2001, he turned his back on a promising career for the world of cinema. With no preparation, he succeeded in gaining a place at ENS Louis-Lumière, a prestigious cinema school in Paris. A gamble that paid off!
Three years at ENS Louis-Lumière enabled him to create his first short 35mm film, Wenzhou, the story of a Chinese illegal immigrant who comes to Paris to find his father.
Aged 27 Matthieu began his professional career working on a number of short and feature films. Having grown disenchanted with the cinema, he found a new calling in the business world and the concise and dynamic format of corporate films. He gained experience in different video and communication techniques and honed his skills in shooting, editing and animation.
In 2011 Matthieu invited his good friend Claire to join him in creating an audiovisual production company and Crea Nostra was launched on 31 March 2011. Seven years on, the company has an impressive list of clients including Danone, Michelin, SNCF, Hutchinson and Pernod.
Although he’s now more of a production director, Matthieu has never abandoned his love of making films. He manages many major client commissions as well as creating ever more ambitious films. In parallel, he continues his musical projects, composing original pieces in diverse genres from ragtime to french songs and english pop.