We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Matthew Kulewicz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Matthew below.

Matthew, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?

I constantly think back and wish I figured things out sooner than I did. I always knew I wanted to work in SOMETHING audio/sound related. My mother still has a pin I made in middle school for a faux company called ‘Matt’s Music’.

In high school I took an internship at a radio station, and learned I didn’t want to be in the world of replicating/playing back other peoples music, I wanted to be part of the creative process of making it. Then in high school and college I worked for a number of live concert venues, and learned while I loved working with musicians (and sometimes playing with them), it still felt like I was there to service other people’s creations and not my own. After graduating college I worked at the big chain musical instrument stores, toured with some artists, interned at recording studios, but still wasn’t finding my fit. My ‘quarter life crisis’ resulted in me quitting all things sound and getting a corporate IT job. Three years into the tech field, I realized this was not for me and I needed to find my path in audio. So I applied and got into to grad school for Music Technology at NYU. While earning my degree I took an elective course for film sound, and a light bulb went off. THIS is what I want to do. From there I worked on every film project I could get my hands on. This led to finding and falling in love with animation in 2017, and then subsequently game audio in the beginning of 2021.

Now in 2025 I’m still refining what it is I truly want to accomplish in my career, and founding Blue Barrel Games is the closest thing to that. I also am determined to use this company and the game we are creating to help people find their focus and their creative drive. I wouldn’t change a thing that got me to this point, and I only want to help others achieve their creative ambitions.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been an active member of the film/TV industry since 2014, and the gaming industry since moving to Los Angeles in 2021. While earning my Master’s Degree in Music Technology at NYU, I became connected to the film industry via the NYU Tisch film school, and since have continually worked as a sound engineer, mixer, designer and editor whether it be for: animation, feature film, TV series, limited series, pilots, web series, feature and short form documentaries, indie features, indie shorts, film competitions, reality TV, indie games, mobile games, A-AAA game titles…you name it! I’m an expert in audio restoration, remote workflows, acoustics and music production, and received my Tonmeister Honors from NYU. As a ‘Swiss-Army Knife’ of all things audio, I am often a go-to collaborator whether for short term emergency solutions, or long term project workflow/management.

Having such a rich and diverse history in the entertainment industry, I’m entering a new chapter of my career. I am now a full-time associate professor of sound/sound design at Chapman University in Orange County, CA in the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts (which has been rated as the #4 film school in the US!). I’m looking to transition my career from someone who would say ‘yes’ to every gig, to focusing my career on larger scope projects and sharing those smaller freelance gigs with others up and coming in the industry.

This is where Blue Barrel Games comes in. We are going to break molds, break a few rules, challenge the status quo, and bring back the love for games many of us grew up with. Blue Barrel Games was founded to remind ourselves why we loved video games in the first place, and share that passion with the new generation of gamers.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

With Blue Barrel Games, we have two main missions in mind;

Our first mission is to give people opportunity in the industry they might otherwise not have. Whether it’s giving young people and students a foot in the door, people who have been laid off so they have a continuous work history and a project to work towards, or even to inspire people to try out a new creative endeavor. More and more I’m seeing junior level positions asking for ‘1-3 years experience’, and even internship opportunities are ridiculously competitive. This company and project will welcome anyone and everyone willing to put in the work.

Second, the intention of this company is not to make money. It is to make good games. To go back to the PS2 golden era of games, a 30-40 hour puzzle adventure game with a world full of immersive and beautiful art, with compelling characters and story. The industry has fallen into a trap where if it doesn’t have a certain financial return, it’s considered a failure and studios close, people lose their jobs… Let’s change that.

Too many times I’ve seen people who worked on a top-secret, high profile game for many years, only for the company to get bought out, the game get canceled, or be victim to rounds of mass layoffs. I’ve worked on a few large pro-bono projects and seen first hand how a passionate team of creatives can make a difference putting in a few hours a week when they can, because they want to be there, not because the have to. With Blue Barrel Games we want to recognize everyone who contributes to the project, no matter how small or big.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’ve been freelancing full time since 2014, when I started grad school back in NY. I’ve been very lucky that throughout my entire career I’ve gone from one job to the next based solely on recommendation or referral. In 2023 my primary contract at the time was working as the Dialogue Lead on season 2 of the animated series Arcane from Riot Games/Netflix. Around May of 2023 due to budget cuts and company restructuring, I was laid off in the middle of my contract. It devastated me, not only because of the financial security but because a project I had poured my heart and soul into for over 2 years was forcibly torn away from me and there was nothing I could do but wait until it released. Being the breadwinner of the family, with a daughter who was only one at the time, I was determined to find a way to take care of my family but still work in the industry I loved so much.

I scrambled and took on every gig I could get, calling in every favor and working as much as possible. Out of my frustration I told myself I was tired of working on other people’s creative projects, what if I had my OWN game project to work on, would kind of game would that be? While spending the day with my family at the beautiful Descanso Gardens in La Cañada Flintridge I was watching my daughter Penelope walking down a path and it dawned on me. This place is amazing, it would be so cool to explore these gardens in a 3D game setting. I had found my inspiration, my muse. So as a mental health exercise, I started writing. Over the course of 2-3 months I came up with a ‘game design bible’ roughly 70ish pages long, rivaling the length and density of my Master’s Thesis, ha. I shared it with a few close industry friends, who all loved the idea and told me to keep working at it, but I was still figuring out my career stability problem so I put a pin in my game idea.

After a very difficult year of applying to jobs and getting little to no feedback (even from jobs I was over-qualified for), I was so fortunate to be offered a job teaching full time at Chapman University down in Orange starting Fall of 2024. Not only was it teaching sound/sound design for tv and film, but they were very keen on me integrating more of my animation/gaming background into the program! That’s when I decided I’m going to try and make this game. I figured since my family/financial stability was now taken care of, I’m ready to take the leap and work towards the greatest creative challenge I’ve ever taken. Blue Barrel Games is the vessel by which this game will be made. I am so proud of everything we’ve done so far, and I can’t wait to show the world what we’re cooking up!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bluebarrelgames.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluebarrelgames
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/bluebarrelgames
• Other: https://bsky.app/profile/bluebarrelgames.bsky.social

Image Credits

BlueBarrelGames_Logo.png – Mike Burns Art
GoldenReels2025.JPG – Chris Schmitt Photography
Matt-Penelope_Descanso.jpg – Erin Kulewicz
MKulewicz_Headshot.jpeg – Mike Van Gorder
Penelope_Descanso.jpg – Matthew Kulewicz