Hi. I’m Matt Chong.

If you’ve arrived via a recently submitted application for Director of Social & Community at Affirm - please read my resume here. I have a rather unique professional background, having worked within a marketing capacity across telecom, entertainment, and hospitality.

Below are videos & photos that i’ve recently shot and edited, for businesses that I also support through social media marketing and strategy. As you’ll see, my style centers around a BTS approach, frequently highlighting the subject’s personality and sense of humor. For social media, I prefer to use a look that loosely resembles a “documentary style,” which encourages the user to engage primarily with the subject/message, rather than be distracted with too many “cuts” or visual effects.

All videos were planned with a premise in mind, but shot in an impromptu way, meant to feel like a conversation or dialogue. Most if not all subjects aren’t traditionally people who enjoy being on camera, but I was able to disarm them and make them feel comfortable after a few conversations. Photos are shot in the same manner - in the moment, and generally candid shots that highlight an action, and attempting to elicit a feeling or mood, focusing on people at a specific time and place.

My friends recently opened a restaurant in Sacramento called, Southside Super. Located in a small storefront in Downtown Sacramento, the concept of the restaurant was very unique - half Vietnamese cuisine, the other half Korean. The restaurant quickly grew in popularity within our community, as a favorite amongst local industry-types and food connoisseurs. Due to their large platform and reach on social, I felt that it’d be great for them to “show love” to fellow restaurants within our city, by having their staff give recommendations to some of their favorite places. This is the 3rd or 4th installment we’ve done, which garnered close to 120k views.

Due to Southside Super’s tiny footprint and unique setup, the owners noticed that many customers were confused upon their first visit, despite signage being posted. We decided that a video would be a fun way to deliver a “how-to” message. This idea was very spur-of-the-moment, so it was shot on an iPhone before they opened for business. After viewing the footage, I decided to incorporate the trending “Wes Anderson” edit style, to boost views and engagement.

Camellia Coffee Roasters is a popular third-wave coffee house/roaster in Sacramento. While they take tremendous pride in their product, they don’t take themselves too seriously, and put a big emphasis on the culture within their company. When I first took them on as a client, their only direction was “we don’t take ourselves too seriously.” Recently, they hired a new team member to their staff, so I thought it’d be an opportunity to shoot a fun video that highlighted both her professional history, relationship to the client, and her personality.

In 2024, I had the opportunity to travel to Vietnam with Camellia Coffee Roasters to document their process of sourcing coffee. It was a whirlwind of a trip. We landed in Ho Chi Minh City to get settled, then made our way to the Central Highlands region, to source coffee from the Dung K’no area of Da Lat. We had a chance to see the entire process- from coffee being picked to processing. Along the way, we met some great local business owners as Huy - who served as our guide throughout the trip.

Roy Machado is a Sacramento-based real estate broker and developer. He specializes in helping first-time homebuyers, navigate the process of purchasing their home. He takes a hands-on approach with every client, frequently walking them through the steps of learning financial literacy. I was recently meeting with him to shoot another project, when he received word that house keys were ready for a client. Roy has a great communication style, so I felt it would be a great chance to shoot a video of him, while delivering some good news to a client.

While Roy is now known predominantly within the real estate industry, he has a deep background within Sacramento’s local music industry. He recently reopened a record store in 2023, that closed after a run from 2001-2014. Additionally, Roy is responsible for promoting many hip-hop concerts in our region; we met each other through booking shows, and eventually promoted many together through the early 2000’s. This video is the first of a 3-part segment that showcases his roots and connection to the culture.

Ramen Kodaiko is a popular ramen-focused restaurant in Downtown Sacramento. Known for their “scratch-made” approach to nearly everything, the restaurant not only specializes in popular and traditional approaches to ramen, but they explore new ideas that are frequently tied to the culture(s) of their team members. Recently, Chef Felix, a Filipino-American, created a new ramen based on sinigang - a popular soup from his culture.