Matthias Emcke, born June 27, 1963, in Wiesbaden, graduated as a bachelor from Parsons School of Design in New York in the department of architecture and subsequently worked for Tele-München Gruppe, at first as a sales executive, and later as a producer. During the mid-1990s, Emcke moved with his family from New York to Los Angeles where he set up the production company Key Entertainment. The company participated in several movie productions in the following years, including the thriller "Judas Kiss" (1998), starring Emma Thompson and Alan Rickman, and the comedy "Slap Her… She"s French" (2002), starring Piper Perabo.

In 2005, Emcke made his debut as a director with the short film "Ich sehe was, was du nicht siehst" that was shown at several international festivals. In 2009, Matthias Emcke finished his first feature-length film as a director, the melancholic comedy "Phantomschmerz" ("Phantom Pain").