Matti Leshem

Early life and education

Leshem was born January 2, 1962 in Israel, but spent much of his childhood in the United States. He is the son of Alyssa and Moshe Leshem, a former Israeli ambassador to several countries, including The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Denmark, who was part of Israel’s delegation at the United Nations.

Leshem moved to New York in 1978 and began his career in theater, performing in off-Broadway productions, including a role as James Joyce in Exiles at the Asphalt Green. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, he started an interactive theater company with his theater teacher, Megan McCombs in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina. Leshem and McCombs staged their own interactive murder mystery, Hilton Head Homicides. After a year with the production, Leshem relocated to Hollywood.

Leshem received his master's degree in directing from the American Film Institute.

Early entrepreneurship

In 1996, Leshem co-founded Cobalt Moon, a Los Angeles-based interactive entertainment company. Cobalt Moon produced Second City Naked News, a daily updated news parody.

The following year, Leshem was hired by Barry Diller as editor in chief of Silver King Broadcasting, where he was responsible for the development, production, scheduling and marketing of all programs on the Miami television station, WAMI.

In 2003, Leshem partnered with Michael Davies to form Diplomatic Productions. At Diplomatic, Leshem developed integrated brand shows, most notably Pepsi Play for a Billion, a two-hour summer special offering the chance for one player to win $1 billion. Leshem was also executive producer on several TV shows including USA Network's Smush and the documentary series Ultimate Reality on A&E.

Protagonist

In 2003, Leshem formed Protagonist, a marketing and television production company that focuses on the creation of sponsored TV shows built around the sponsor's brand. Pepsi became Protagonist's first client and remained with Protagonist for more than ten years.

USA Rock Paper Scissors League

In 2005, Leshem founded the USA Rock Paper Scissors League and launched a nationwide tournament for sponsor Bud Light. The winner of the 2008 League finals was awarded a prize of $50,000.

GAME_JAM controversy

In 2014, Leshem, as a middleman for sponsor PepsiCo, came under criticism for disrupting GAME_JAM, a Maker Studios-developed reality show about a competitive game jam. Leshem reportedly intended to deliberately stir up the participants by repeatedly asking sexist questions in the presence of female developers, which led to his eventual removal from the project and contributing to the event's failure.

Film production

In 2011 Leshem partnered with Dan Lin to produce Gods and Kings, a feature film about the life of Moses based on Leshem's treatment of Biblical texts, for Warner Bros. In 2014, Leshem partnered with his wife Lynn Harris to form Weimaraner Republic Pictures.

On-air career

Leshem made his television debut in the prime time soap opera, Falcon Crest. Later, he was cast as Dr. Dan Shae, appearing in more than 160 episodes of the 1988 television show, Family Medical Center.

In 2004, Leshem was a judge on the new version of Star Search hosted by Arsenio Hall.

Personal life

Leshem's second wife is Lynn Harris, a film executive, whom he married in 2009. His first marriage ended in divorce.

Filmography as producer