PEORIA, Ill. – A Bradley University student has gotten special recognition from Peoria Mayor Rita Ali in the form of a mayoral proclamation for his side hustle capturing drone footage — some of which has been seen on a national stage.
“Now, therefore, I, Rita Ali, Mayor of the City of Peoria and on behalf of the Peoria City Council, do hereby recognize Matthew Klein in Peoria, Illinois, for five years of success with Matthew Klein Films, and his forthcoming graduation from Bradley University,” part of a proclamation given Monday read.
Klein started just taking videos with a simple iPhone, then graduated up to taking drone video. Some of that was used in the recent HBO Max documentary series about the murders of three women at Starved Rock State Park in 1960, “Murders at Starved Rock.”
“I’ve told many stories through my videos,” said Klein. “I think those wouldn’t have been possible if I didn’t love what I did. There’s a classic quote that goes back to Steve Jobs, I think, is that ‘You have to love what you do.’ I started with nature, and I still love that to this day.”
Klein is a native of the Starved Rock area, and says simply, practice and a lot of trial and error make perfect. He says he’s been to Starved Rock, maybe, hundreds of times, and still gets excited every time he can find a new perspective on something.
But, you might be surprised to learn Klein isn’t even a film major at Bradley. He’s majoring in business, and says that helps him with his current side hustle.
“I’ve always loved business, and stuff like that,” said Klein. “Through running my business over the past five years, I found that I really enjoy running the business. And I thought the Management and Leadership major that Bradley offers would be a great fit, as well as I’m doing a minor in Marketing.”
Klein will stay at Bradley after graduation next month, in order to get his Masters Degree.
