Born in New York City, Matt Fortnow grew up in Riverdale, New York and Short Hills, New Jersey.

An honors graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, majoring in Industrial Management, and Cum Laude graduate of the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, where he edited and wrote for the Cardozo Law Review, Mr. Fortnow first made his mark as an entertainment attorney. In addition to several speaking engagements, Mr. Fortnow has appeared as a copyright expert on Court TV, WOR-TV News and Dateline (Trinidad). He is also a co-author of the 7th Edition of This Business of Music, the Bible of the music industry.

In 1996, Matt Fortnow became one of the founding members of Commissioner.COM, a fantasy sports internet service. As the head of marketing and business development, Mr. Fortnow helped grow the company, and in 1998, the company entered into a long-term licensing agreement with CBS SportsLine. Under the agreement, Commissioner.COM developed and hosted all of CBS SportsLine's fantasy sports games. After Commissioner.COM's further success, CBS SportsLine purchased the company in December 1999.

Matt Fortnow has since attended an intensive program at the New York Film Academy and debuted “Learned,” a short film that screened at several festivals. Most recently, “Learned” won an award for Best Narrative Under 15 Minutes at the 2004 Arlene’s Grocery Picture Show. In addition to writing a couple of feature-length scripts, Mr. Fortnow is Co-Producer of “Certifiably Jonathan,” a feature dadamentary starring the legendary Jonathan Winters, which is currently in post-production.