MATT EMBER graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in Economics. He wished he was a Film major. After bartending and then living in Paris for a while, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked in sit-coms for fifteen years, rising from staff writer to co-executive producer on way too many shows, including The Hughleys, Grace Under Fire, The Drew Carey Show, The Norm (MacDonald) Show, Titus and Becker. 

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In 2004, he began writing features with Tom J. Astle. Together they had a string of five number one movies: their spec sale Failure to Launch (starring Matthew McConoughey and Sarah Jessica Parker), the feature adaption of the beloved series Get Smart (starring Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and Alan Arkin). They also wrote Get Smart 2, which was never made for various show-biz reasons, even though their script was green-lit.

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They followed those with two animation hits: Epic for Blue Sky/Fox Studios (starring Colin Farrel, Amanda Seyfried, Beyonce, Jason Sudeikis, and Christolph Waltz.) and Home for Dreamworks Animation (starring Rihanna, Jim Parsons, and Steve Martin). Their most recent number one movie was 2020’s The War with Grandpa (starring Robert DeNiro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour).

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Matt recently consulted for three seasons on ABC’s The Conners. He has has taught screenwriting at Wesleyan University, Stage 32, and the AFI. He has also practiced and taught kung fu for over 35 years.

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He and his wife have two daughters. One is a politics and economics reporter for The New York Times (Sydney Ember), and the other is a casting associate (Jamie Ember). And they usually have at least one Golden Retriever.