Matsoukas started out at Black Dog Film, then the now-defunct Gorilla Flix film production company, and is currently a director at Prettybird, which she has been signed to since 2011. Matsoukas' first film was about how women are viewed in the New York meatpacking industry, though she immediately destroyed it upon completion, describing it as "a really bad film" that "made her fall in love with the medium". In 2006, Matsoukas directed her first music video upon completing grad school in 2006 for Red Handed's "Dem Girls " featuring Scooby and
Paul Wall. Matsoukas says that expensive equipment is not necessary for a quality video and one should never think that way: "A good video has the right visuals, a well
conceptualised story and should be exciting and elicit reaction." In an interview for
Venus Zines Fall 2010 issue, she explains about being part of the music video world, "I love it. The quick turnaround, the creativity." Between 2016 and 2017, Matsoukas became the executive producer and director of several episodes of the critically and publicly acclaimed television series
Master of None and
Insecure including the acclaimed episode from
Master of None "Thanksgiving", which would go on to win several
Emmy Awards, though Matsoukas herself would not be nominated for any awards for her work on the program. She was later nominated for
Outstanding Comedy Series at the
72nd Primetime Emmy Awards. Though Matsoukas avoids making professional decisions based on personal relationships, she was intrigued by the opportunity to direct the script written by her past collaborator and good friend, Lena Waithe, later stating that she "was looking for something [she] felt was political in a way that had something to say, that was strong and unique and powerful." In 2020 she directed the commercial spot
Beats by Dre: You Love Me, being recognized with the
Directors Guild of America Awards for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials. ==Personal life==