About Us

Matthew acts as producer on all Night Kitchen projects and lead editor on selected projects. In addition to writing for Night Kitchen, he recently wrote and produced In the Shadow of Giants, a graphic novel set in the Philippines during the Japanese Occupation of WWII. 

He has authored several papers and presentations and contributed a chapter entitled Online Dialogue and Cultural Practice: A Conversation to the book Letting Go? Sharing Historical Authority in a User-Generated World published by the Pew Center for Arts and Heritage. See Papers, Workshops, & Presentations for a list of his work.

Before founding Night Kitchen, Matthew studied film and drama at Vassar College and worked in radio and record label management for several years. Once upon a time Matthew taught himself how to code and, for a time, was the lead developer on several Night Kitchen projects. He continues to know enough about coding to be a danger to himself and others. Matthew now lives in Maine and Philadelphia with his wife, son, and their cat Lucha.

Valentina's multifaceted expertise in project management, education, animation, videography, and interactive storytelling allows her to facilitate both client-facing discussions and technical problem-solving. She focuses on a human-centered approach for designing interactive experiences targeted toward a growing digital-native audience.

Valentina is an educator at heart who enjoys sharing new techniques and contributing to conferences and research discussions. Most recently, she was featured in CONTEXT Magazine's 2021 "Designers You Should Know" article and led a panel about climate change interpretation at The Association of Science and Technology 2022 conference. She earned an M.S. in Digital Media from Drexel University in 2016 and currently teaches undergraduate and graduate classes in Drexel's Digital Media program.

When she's not working, you can find her playing music or experimenting with a new crafting project.

Dan has worked in both print and interactive design for more than fifteen years, creating everything from silkscreen concert posters to state-of-the-art React apps. He also has a background in communications and writing, having graduated from Cornell University with a BS in Communication.

On a weekend, you might find Dan scouring flea markets for forgotten treasures, hand-planing boards at his woodworking bench, or conjuring 1960s synthesizer sounds from his computer.

At Drexel University, she graduated from the Custom Design Major program to create her own major about Serious Game Design, combining computer science and digital media with sociology, psychology and social justice.

For her capstone project, she stepped into the role of Executive Producer for Sungrazer Studio, which launched Resilience, a socially-conscious city-building game for PC, Mac, and Linux. Players take on the role of a manager at a refugee camp to learn about the hardships that displaced people and aid workers face. Resilience won the Games For Change Award for Best Student Game 2020.

When she isn’t in front of her computer coding or playing a game, Lily’s other natural habitats include painting, playing Dungeons and Dragons, or playing with her two cats.

His experiences in academic, corporate, and nonprofit sectors give Ethan a fresh perspective in tackling a range of projects. Ethan has spoken at conferences and events on Virtual Reality, the democratization of media, and uses of new media in academic institutions. As a presenter at several ACM SIGGRAPH conventions, the AASLH annual meeting and venues across the east and west coast, he has a passion for encouraging conversations about new media.

Ethan attended Drexel University where he studied Animation and Visual Effects. When he isn't creating stories for work, he's immersed in them – his hobbies include working through his cinema backlog, reading sci fi novels, and conquering historical strategy games.

Since graduating from Drexel University with a degree in Animation and Visual Effects, Fiona has gathered a variety of experiences from curating art exhibitions and designing activity books, to digitally recreating historical artifacts.

Outside of work hours, you might find Fiona visiting a natural history museum, sketching in a cafe, or climbing at the local bouldering gym.