Matt Busch

• Name — Matt Busch • Birth Name — Matthew Stuart Busch • Born — 22 September 1972 • Birthplace — Lebanon, Pennsylvania, U.S. • Education — Art Center College of Design • Occupation — Artist, illustrator, filmmaker, author, writer, director • Years Active — 1994–present • Notable Works — You Can Draw Star Wars, Indiana Jones World Map, Aladdin 3477 • Children — 1 • Parents — Frederick Busch (father) Peggy Busch (mother) • Website — mattbusch.com

Busch was born in Lebanon, Pennsylvania on September 22, 1972, to Frederick and Peggy Busch. He grew up in the northern suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, and practiced drawing comic books, playing music instruments, and creating short films with a camcorder. In 1993, he won an award from the Library of Congress for his copyright achievements. After earning an associate degree from Macomb Community College, he moved to Pasadena, California, where he attended the Los Angeles Art Academy, and studied illustration, film, and entertainment design at the Art Center College of Design. Before earning his Bachelor Degree at Art Center, Busch was classmates with other notable alumni such as Justin Bua, Chris Do, and LeUyen Pham, studying artist Burne Hogarth. Busch began working in Hollywood illustrating concept art and storyboards for films like Con Air and The Matrix. After living in Los Angeles for nearly a decade, Busch eventually returned to the Northern Detroit area in the early 2000s and founded Kaleidoscope Koi Entertainment LLC, and continues to work on Hollywood projects. Later in his career, Busch dove into the world of independent filmmaking, eventually writing and directing the Aladdin 3477 trilogy. He has previously taught media arts college courses.

• Illustration — Matt Busch has illustrated numerous official Star Wars posters, books, apparel, and other products since 1994. Since 1994, Matt Busch has provided art for official Star Wars merchandise. George Lucas has purchased nearly 400 of Busch's drawings and paintings for his own collection, many of which are on display at Lucasfilm's headquarters and Skywalker Ranch. Early in his career, Busch started illustrating books and playing cards for the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. He was the first to illustrate an R7 series Astromech Droid, which has since become a popular series of action figures from Hasbro. • Illustration — Matt Busch at a book signing in Disney World Hollywood Studios, 2008. In 1997, Busch illustrated the cover of Star Wars: Tales from the Empire from Bantam Dell, which became a New York Times bestseller. He also began writing and illustrating monthly articles for both the Star Wars Insider and Star Wars Kids magazines. In 2006, Busch was hired by Lucasfilm to illustrated the Style D One Sheet movie poster for Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, which was designed to be a bookend piece top the original Star Wars "circus poster" illustrated by Drew Struzan and Charles White III. That same year, Busch was the second artist to be inducted as an honorary member of the fictional 501st Legion of Stormtroopers. In 2007, the You Can Draw Star Wars book from DK Publishing was released, for which Busch produced over 300 illustrations. The book went on to become a New York Times bestseller. Busch is known for his outspoken antics in the You Can Draw Star Wars video series, which is based on the book. The video series was first released on StarWars.com and later released on DVD. Following that, the videos found more success when they were released on MySpace, before being released on YouTube. Volumes Two and Three of the same tutorial series were also released on DVD in subsequent years. • Illustration — Matt Busch illustrates a remarque sketch of BB-8 on an art print at Star Wars Celebration in London, 2016. In 2008, Hasbro released a droid action figure named MB-RA-7, which was named after Matt Busch, based on articles he had written for Star Wars Kids magazines. Also that year, Busch became the first Honorary Member of the 501st Legion of Stormtroopers to become an official member with his own TK Stormtrooper armor. His TK number, 3477, is leet for "Matt" written sideways, and later became the year his Aladdin 3477 film trilogy would take place. In 2009, Lucasfilm solicited Busch to re-illustrate the existing 6 Star Wars film movie posters with a zombie twist, in an effort to help promote the first Star Wars horror novel. He titled the parody series Zombie Wars, and he created Episode I: The Zombie Menace, Episode II: Attack of the Undead, Episode III: Revenge of the Zombies, Episode IV: A New Epidemic, Episode V: The Living Dead Strike Back, and Episode VI: Return from the Grave. Due to the series' success, Busch continued 'zombifying' classic movie posters in a series titled Hollywood is Dead, eventually collecting hundreds of the parody zombie posters into a coffee table art book. The initial Zombie Wars series later became licensed by Fright Rags as popular T shirts. • Illustration — Busch giving a guest lecture at Barnes & Noble in Indianapolis, 2008. Soon after, Kohl's department stores released T-shirts featuring Busch's Star Wars art. In 2013, Busch illustrated the CD cover of the original Star Wars Radio Dramas. Based on the source material, Busch also illustrated dozens of trading cards for Topps, including special inserts for Star Wars Insider magazine. That year, Busch and Artist Lin Zy created an animated mashup parody combining Star Wars and Powerpuff Girls. The animated videos titled Power of the Force Girls went viral with millions of views on YouTube. The following year, Busch illustrated nearly 60 images for the Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Illustrated trading cards, including a series of character cards. Busch became a staple of large Star Wars events like Star Wars Celebrations, JediCon, and Empire Con, producing exclusive limited edition prints for each show. Busch's art was featured in the 2016 Star Wars Calendar. • Illustration — Busch's artwork at a Star Wars art show in Heilbronn, Germany (2024). In 2021, Disney unveiled a new limited edition print of The Mandalorian, illustrated by Busch. That same year, he was one of 12 Star Wars artists to exhibit in a Star Wars art show at the Galactic Gallery in Dallas. In 2023, Busch illustrated a 10th anniversary commemorative coin for the Peter Mayhew Foundation. That same year, the foundation gave a significant contribution to Busch's Aladdin 3477 kickstarter. In 2024, to celebrate 30 years of illustrating official Star Wars art, Busch exhibited 101 drawings and paintings in the Sparkasse Pyramide Gallery in Heilbronn, Germany. That same year, Busch released a new series of tutorial videos on YouTube titled Illustrating Star Wars. In 2025, Busch was a guest of honor in a Star Wars art show held in a medieval German castle, Schloss Hohenstein in Coberg. Later that year, Busch's work was featured in another Star Wars themed exhibition at the Siegen Art Gallery in Siegen, Germany. • Illustration — One of Busch's frequent collaborators over the years is drummer Rikki Rockett from the band Poison. One of Busch's earliest projects in published comic books was illustrating Coven 13 for No Mercy Comics, which was written by Rikki Rockett, drummer of the rock band Poison. The two have worked on a number of projects together, including an animated parody series titled Toke'mon for KNAC Radio in Los Angeles. Busch also created art for Poison's concert screen animations, as well as concert merchandise like T shirts and bandanas. Rikki Rockett also wrote the introduction to Busch's first hardcover art book, Fantastic Visions: The Art of Matt Busch, from Avatar Press. • Illustration — John Dolmayan, drummer of the band System of a Down, wrote the introduction to Busch's art book Pucker: The Seductive Art of Matt Busch. Busch's second art book, Pucker: The Seductive Art of Matt Busch from SQP Publishing featured a written introduction from drummer John Dolmayan from the nü metal band System of a Down. In 2008, Busch was a featured special guest at Comic-Con International in San Diego, joining Bernie Wrightson, Al Jaffe, Sergio Aragones, Jim Lee, Ray Bradbury, Joe Hill, and Dean Koontz. In 2009, Busch illustrated Barack Obama for the cover of the DVD documentary, Becoming Barack: Evolution of a Leader. Busch also produced a video bonus feature on the DVD. • Illustration — Another property Busch has often illustrated is Indiana Jones. In 2011, the Indiana Jones World Map was released, a project which Busch spent 3 years working with Lucasfilm to authorize, research and illustrate. The map details all of the locations Indiana Jones has acquired archeological treasures from the films, Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, novels, comics, video games, and Disney Theme Park attractions. Busch has co-developed apps with his brother Ian, including "Interactive Sketchbook" and "How to Draw (with Artist Matt Busch)". • Illustration — Actress Christi Perovski and Busch at the release of Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom, 2025. In 2025, the film Afterburn was released, based on the Red 5 comic book series which Busch illustrated all of the covers for. The film stars Dave Bautista and Samuel L. Jackson. Having worked behind-the-scenes for years in corporate studio film productions, Busch eventually gravitated to independent film. In 2006, his first feature-length movie, Conjure, was released straight-to-DVD; a project that he wrote, directed, starred in, and composed the music for. It was also one of the first horror films available on Netflix. The movie broke the highest pre-sale record for movies purchased through HorrorMovies.com. • Illustration — Busch's magnum opus is a trilogy of live action films, Aladdin 3477, which he has written and directed. In 2009, Busch released a DVD titled Illustration Nation, a documentary of travel adventures including Hollywood, London, and Tokyo. Busch's arguably most significant work is writing and directing the trilogy of Aladdin 3477 films, based on the classic Arabian Nights tale Aladdin and his Wonderful Lamp. The movies are set in Asia 1,500 years in the future. During the production, the 2018 Hong Kong Business Awards presented Aladdin 3477 with the award for "Most Anticipated Film Project". The first film, Aladdin 3477- I: The Jinn of Wisdom was released January 3, 2025, on Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, and Fandango at Home. The film garnered 3 nominations for Best Independent Science Fiction Film, Best Director, and Independent Movie of the Year for the 7th Annual Film Threat Award This! Awards Ceremony. On January 31st, 2026, Busch attended the ceremony at the Frida Cinema in Santa Ana, California with other cast members to bring home their win for Best Independent Science Fiction Film. • Illustration — Matt Busch does a live demonstration on stage, drawing Darth Vader at a Star Wars art show in Germany (2024). Matt Busch has instructed college-level courses at art schools such as the Columbus College of Art and Design and the College for Creative Studies. Currently, he is a professor of Media and Communication Arts and faculty advisor of Creative Imaging and Illustration at Macomb Community College. He teaches a range of courses including painted illustration, figure illustration, and previz storyboarding for film and animation.

Busch was married to Lin Zy (née Selestow) in 2011, but divorced in 2019. He later married novelist Casey McGrath in 2024 at the historic Emerald Theatre in Downtown Mount Clemens, Michigan. Busch resides in a home studio in Macomb Township, Michigan with Casey and their son, Beaux.

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1995 — Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman — Storyboard Artist • 1995 — The Nanny — Storyboard Artist • 1996–1997 — Everybody Loves Raymond — Storyboard Artist • 1996 — Melrose Place — Storyboard Artist • 1996 — Millennium — Storyboard Artist • 1996 — Early Edition — Storyboard Artist • 1996 — In the House — Storyboard Artist • 1996 — Nash Bridges — Storyboard Artist • 1997 — Martin — Storyboard Artist • 1998 — Touched by an Angel — Storyboard Artist • 2015 — Local 4 News — Himself — Interview • 2019 — Stranger Things — Poster Artist

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 2024 — Illustrating Star Wars — Artist — 4-part tutorial videos • 2023 – present — Aladdin 3477: Draw This In Your Style — Himself — Aladdin 3477 character art challenges • 2022 – present — Livestream Lounge — Himself — Livestream Host • 2020 – present — Matt's Class — Instructor — Art tutorial videos • 2020–2021 — Sketchbook Challenge — Artist — 50-part art challenge videos • 2010 — Hollywood is Dead — Artist — Zombie art videos • 2007–2012 — How to Draw Star Wars — Himself — 22-part tutorial videos

• Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1997 — Con Air — Storyboard Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 1997 — Home Alone 3 — Storyboard Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 1997 — How to Be a Player — Storyboard Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 1997 — The Devil's Own — Storyboard Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 1998 — Hard Rain — Storyboard Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 1999 — The Matrix — Storyboard Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 1999 — The Mummy — Poster Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 2002 — Star Wars: Episode II- Attack of the Clones — Poster Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 2003 — Goregoyles: The Holy Terror — Actor — DVD, Streaming • 2003 — Hulk — Poster Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 2005 — Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith — Poster Artist — Theatrical, DVD, Blu Ray, Streaming • 2006 — Conjure — Writer, Director, himself — DVD, Streaming • 2007 — You Can Draw Star Wars — Director, himself — StarWars.com, DVD, YouTube • 2008 — Illustration Nation — Himself — Documentary, DVD • 2008 — Becoming Barack: Evolution of a Leader — Director, himself — Bonus Feature / Documentary, DVD • 2008 — You Can Draw Star Wars: Vol. 2 — Director, himself — StarWars.com, DVD, YouTube • 2010 — You Can Draw Star Wars: Vol. 3 — Director, himself — StarWars.com, DVD, YouTube • 2025 — Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom — Writer, Director — Streaming, VOD, Blu ray, DVD

• Year — Title — Notes • 2006 — Conjure — Straight-to-DVD • 2025 — Aladdin 3477: The Jinn of Wisdom — Streaming, VOD, Blu ray, DVD