Letter from the Vineyard

Mathew Tombers is a well-respected media executive, who started his career by opening the West Coast office for A&E in 1984, when the network was only four months old. For five of the six years Mr. Tombers ran the office, it was rated number one in client service and customer satisfaction by the Myers’ Report. After a stint in television programming at ad agency FCB, Tombers was recruited by Discovery Communications to manage Corporate Partnerships. During his tenure, over thirty hours of programming was produced in partnership with American corporations, including Chrysler.

He was loaned to the International Division of Discovery and was dispatched to help launch Discovery Channel Australia and followed that by being a member of the team that was launching Discovery Channel India, now one of that country’s most successful services.

While at Discovery, Tombers became fascinated with New Media. Rich Frank, President of Buena Vista Television and sitting President of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, asked him to create a committee to study the future of media for the Academy. As Chair of the Future Media Committee, Tombers produced the Superhighway Summit with Vice President Al Gore, an event that is considered one of the most important gatherings on the future of media. Panelists included John Malone, Barry Diller, Rupert Murdoch, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Michael Eisner, Robert Iger, FCC Chairman Reed Hundt, the CEOs of Bell Atlantic, Time Warner, and many other major media entities.

Tombers was Governor of the Television Executives peer group at the Television Academy for four years and was Founding Governor of the Interactive Media Peer Group, the first new peer group formed by the Academy in fifteen years, developed to provide a home within the Academy for those working in New Media. He also was one of the producers of the Emmy Awards the first time they were broadcast on the web.

In 1999, he was appointed SVP of Sales and Marketing for Internet start-up Sabela Media, which was sold to 24/7 Real Media in New York for $70 million dollars. He moved into an international role for the company, leaving it in late 2000, to start his own consulting practice. Clients included WETA, DCTV, Betelgeuse Productions, and Eye Wonder to name a few. While running Intermat, Tombers was an Executive Producer of over sixty hours of programming for cable networks and spent significant time with technology companies explaining their offerings to clients.

It was while on a consulting assignment that Tombers encountered Nick Stuart, CEO of Odyssey, who asked him to consult Odyssey Networks on New Media. While at Odyssey, Tombers has helped launch Call on Faith, the mobile video app and helped build a new web site. He is currently engaged in partnering Odyssey with OTT [Over The Top] solutions such as ROKU.
He is also a Past President of CINE, the organization that awards the CINE Golden Eagle. Past recipients include Steven Spielberg, Ken Burns, Mel Brooks, Mike Nichols, Ron Howard, Taylor Hackford, Forrest Whitaker as well as many others. Mat Tombers continues as a member of the organization’s Executive Committee. He introduced CINE’s first award for internet video.

He graduated college Summa Cum Laude. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He has a Master’s Degree in Dramatic Literature, taught English in a Catholic High School and was Chair of its English Department. He lives in a house on a creek with too many books.