Meet: Robing Emmons
April 17, 2024
Matt DeGroot has been obsessed with film for as long as he can remember. "Very early on as a kid I was fascinated by the movie making process and soaked up everything I could possibly find," he writes. In the days before DVDs came packaged with featurettes and behind-the-scenes material, DeGroot turned to his favorite filmmakers' biographies. There, he would learn what films most inspired them, and then track down those films to watch, discovering a whole new set of filmmakers to study.
When it came time to choose a major as an undergraduate at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, DeGroot was immediately drawn to film studies. "It was a no-brainer." After graduating from UNL in 2006, he received his Masters in Media and Public Affairs from the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Time spent working for a D.C. public relations and production company earned him his first job as a producer of educational media content for universities around the world. Then, last year, a unique opportunity presented itself: a managment position with the popular social news and entertainment company, BuzzFeed.
Now a year into his job as Production Manager with BuzzFeed Motion Pictures, DeGroot finds himself functioning as a jack of all trades. "It has been thrilling to see the company grow and evolve as my own position continues to morph with it. It'll be fascinating to see what we're doing another year from now." Currently, DeGroot oversees three teams of producers who create content focused on a specific subject, from food to identity and diversity issues. He not only assists his teams with their "creative slate," but also the physical process of production; he finds locations, manages casting needs, arranges for equipment, and supervises post-production and distribution. "All in all, this process helps crank out 60-70 new short videos each week, as if it were the old factory method of film production on steroids," says DeGroot. "Needless to say, I don't suffer for things to keep my days occupied."
DeGroot continues to flex his creative muscles on the side, as well, writing film reviews and honing a stage play he hopes to soon have performed. Through it all, he offers encouragement to his fellow film nerds and students of film studies. "There are definitely jobs out there!"
You can learn more about the BuzzFeed Motion Pictures production team at Buzzfeed.com. Interested in a Film Studies major or minor? Check out the intro video and degree information on our Film Studies page.
