
ROY MONTIBON, Full Bio
Montibon's specialty is conceiving, designing, directing and launching complex projects
that that combine creative direction and technology..
Roy Montibon is a serial entrepreneur and known leader in business strategy, identity development,
branding, creative direction, design, marketing, communications and technology integration. Montibon's
role has taken many formsas consultant, corporate executive, entrepreneur, educator and community
organizer.
A graduate of Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California, Montibon
has provided strategic planning and stakeholder outreach; assembled and directed national and
international teams; and has lead branding, marketing and communication initiatives for clients
including educational institutions (UCLA, UC Irvine), Fortune 1000 corporations (Mercedes Benz,
Porsche, Toyota, Honeywell, Bank of America), major consulting firms (Capgemeni / Ernst & Young, IBM),
high-tech leaders (Hitachi Medical Instruments, Beckman Laser Institute, Texas Instruments, JVC),
business leaders (John Wooden, Peter Drucker, Fred Rosen) and thought leaders (William Glasser).
Montibon and his partner Julie Tumblety are the founders of the original Artwalk in Downtown Los Angeles,
(2002), and ran it for four years, after which it was taken over and vastly expanded by a dedicated downtown
team into one of the largest and most successful art walks in the U.S., attracting between 20,000 and 40,000
visitors per monthly event. He was publicly elected to the position of Representative for the Center City
Redevelopment Area / Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles. At that time, CRA/LA oversaw $342.2
million of CRA/LA investment plus $6.8 billion from other sources for pubic improvement projects including
urban parks, affordable and mixed use housing, retail, commercial and industrial development and other
revitalization projects.
Montibon and Tumblety conceived and produced a number of major international symposia on design and the \
arts at UCLA and UC Irvine featuring such luminaries as Brian Eno, Ray Bradbury, Hartmut Esslinger of Frog
Design and Dr. James Blinn of JPL. He developed and taught some of the very first digital imaging
and media arts courses ever offered in the United States, through UCLA's Professional
Development Programs, and UC Irvine, and helped grow the UCLA Extension media arts program
into the leading program of its type in the country. He has taught and mentored over 6,000
undergrads, graduate students and creative professionals at UCLA, UC Irvine and other southern California
universities. Montibon has also developed and taught several online courses.
Montibon is currently a Strategic Consultant for VizCommunication in Los Angeles, which is developing
a new visual language platform and educational system, where he helped develop two successful NSF
grant applications. He has recently been a strategic consultant to the Center of Innovation for
Nanobiotechnology, a consultant to Nano Risk Assessment, Inc., and a strategic advisor to the
Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy, a Shanghai-based NGO, where he was invited by
the People's Republic of China to provide training for eco-heritage tourism and sustainable
development to over 35 mayors, provincial governors and high-ranking ministry officials. He
has served as Creative Director for COMDEX, Networld & Interop and Seybold Seminars and was
involved in every aspect of the design for a NIST-certified, JITC-approved military grade
data security device. He was also the Customer Experience Architect for CarsDirect.
He is currently the President of The Montibon Company, LLC (TMC). TMC provides comprehensive
branding, market positioning, creative direction and brand marketing. With five partners and
the help of several scientists, Montibon has also been developing a science/art/technology
startup to combat theft, forgeries and fraud in the art market.
Montibon is the co-founder of Royal Mastodon Society, LLC, a company that renovates historic
buildings and converts them into artist lofts, studios and exhibition spaces. He was named
the Chair of one of two pilot programs for the New Mexico State Arts & Culture District for
Las Vegas, New Mexico. The designation was awarded by Lt. Governor Diane Denish and three
Cabinet Secretaries.
He has been a featured speaker at digital media events held at UC Irvine, Occidental College,
USC, Cal State Long Beach, The Los Angeles County Museum of Art, The Coro Foundation, The
American Film Institute and at the California's Governor's Conference on the Arts special
program, Beyond the Millennium: Redefining the Arts for the 21st Century.
Montibon has contributed time and expertise to pro bono projects for the Los Angeles Museum
of Contemporary Art, (for the Streb/Ringside Dance Company of New York), Mozart Camerata,
Opera Pacific and The Orange County Performing Arts Center. Montibon is also an artist,
designer, inventor and photographer.
CURRENT
CEO / Product Development
Montibon Provenance International, Inc.
February 2017 — Present; Santa Fe region
Montibon Provenance International secures art, artifacts and antiquities against
forgery, fraud, theft and counterfeit documentation. MPI incorporates elements of
nanotechnology, advanced materials science, high res digital imaging, forensic
analysis, cyber-security and long-term data archiving. MPI has been engaged in R&D
and is developing original and very unique intellectual property in several of these
areas.
CEO / Chief Creative Director
The Montibon Company, LLC | SN1054 ( Montibon Design Agency )
November 2001 — Present; Los Angeles / Santa Fe region
The Montibon Company provides the clear insights, hard-nosed strategic thinking and inspired
creative direction necessary to launch new companies, new products and/or new marketing
initiatives. His creative agency, SN1054 / Montibon Design Group is a global branding,
design and marketing agency that develops and executes effective brand marketing
initiatives and develops new products for industry and consumers.
Strategic Consultant
VizCommunication, Inc.
1997 — Present; Los Angeles
Strategic consulting and interface design and marketing strategy for the development of a
new visual language platform and educational system. Assisted with two successful NSF
grant applications.
Co-Founder
Royal Mastodon Society, LLC (formerly Studio 808)
August 2004 — Present; Los Angeles / Santa Fe region
Designs and develops creative spaces including live/work artist lofts, studios and arts
exhibition / performance venues; produces art exhibitions and cultural performances.
PAST
Founder / Executive Director
SPACE New Mexico: Special Projects in Art, Culture & Education
2007 — 2015; New Mexico
SN1054 is Artists, Designers, Architects, Scientists, Engineers and Technologists working
together to bring the extraordinary to life and to make great things happen in our communities.
Associate Producer
Neon Buffalo
2010 — 2015 (5 years) Santa Fe, New Mexico Area
Neon Buffalo is a documentary feature film focused on the American Indian struggle for
sustainable economic empowerment and self-determination.
Strategic Consultant
Center of Innovation for Nanobiotechnology
2011 — 2013; Research Triangle, North Carolina
Roy has provided strategic consulting, marketing strategy and development services to this
international institute dedicated to accelerating the commercialization of nanobiotechnology.
Strategic Advisor
Joint U.S.-China Collaboration on Clean Energy
2011 — 2013; Shanghai, China
Roy has provided strategic consulting training for eco-heritage tourism and green development
to over 35 mayors, provincial governors and high-ranking ministry officials.
Acting Chief Operating Officer | Chief Creative Officer
eSoundLink | AlertTheGlobe
January 2013 — July 2013 (6 months) Los Angeles | Laguna Beach
Leading the development of a music-industry start up for musicians and music lovers across
the globe; art, food, music, design, fashion, culture.
Chairman
New Mexico State Arts & Culture District | Las Vegas
January 2008 — July 2010; New Mexico
Appointed Chairman of one of the first two New Mexico Pilot Districts. The designation was
awarded by Lt. Governor Diane Denish and three Cabinet Secretaries. The selection committee
included the New Mexico MainStreet / Economic Development Department; Historic Preservation
Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA); New Mexico Arts Division (DCA); New
Mexico Tourism Department; New Mexico Museum Foundation; McCune Foundation; and New Mexico
Arts Commission.
Digital Media & Design Instructor / Symposium Producer
UCLA Extension / Visual Arts and Design Communication Arts
1987 — 2010; UCLA Westwood Campus / Downtown Los Angeles / Online
Pioneered Early Digital Media Classes for Creative Professionals; Developed and taught
Media Arts, Graphic Design, Experience Design, Information Architecture, Creative Process
courses to over 6,000 undergraduates, graduate students and design/media arts & technology
professionals.
Elected Representative
Center City Redevelopment Area / Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles
January 2003 — January 2005; Downtown Los Angeles
CRA/LA oversees $342.2 million of CRA/LA investment plus $6.8 billion from other sources
for pubic improvement projects including urban parks, affordable and mixed use housing,
retail, commercial and industrial development and other revitalization projects.
Creative Director
Key3Media
2000 — 2001; Los Angeles
Oversaw creative teams on both coasts. Guided design, development and database initiatives
for COMDEX, Seybold Seminars and Networld + Interop websites; worked directly with CEO Fred
Rosen on special projects; and worked with Cap Gemini/Ernst & Young consultants and
internal development teams on IBM WebSphere-based CRM systems integration.
Customer Experience Architect
CarsDirect.com
1999 — 2000 (1 year) Culver City
Developed national marketing promotions for new vehicle introductions (Porsche and Mercedes
Benz) and oversaw Customer Relationship Management and Customer Communication Initiatives;
provided input into Customer Database Design.
Co-Founder / President / Creative Director
New Archetype Publishing Corporation
1995 — 1999 (4 years) Westwood, Los Angeles
Produced, directed and was instrumental in securing investment funding for a variety of
online media properties, including web expos, e-commerce, travel and entertainment sites.
Co-Founder / President / Creative Director
Morpheus Worldwide, LLC
1995 — 1997 (2 years) Los Angeles
Conceived and designed initiatives and provided agency services for new product introductions,
national brand campaigns and online marketing & communications programs.
HONORS and AWARDS
Arrowhead Center SBIR Accelerator (Applied for and was accepted)
Third direct NMSBA research grant awarded by Los Alamos National Labs to work with a
mathematician in LANL's Space Sciences Division to run models to validate unique MPI cybersecurity
concepts.
Awarded New Mexico Innovation Voucher Grant to attend the TechConnect Conference in Anaheim CA
ProjectY (Los Alamos) Lean Startup Bootcamp (Applied for and accepted into program
Second direct NMSBA research grant awarded to MPI by Los Alamos National Labs to perform Laboratory
testing using Focused Ion Beam technology.
Applied for and accepted into NM FAST / National Science Foundation TechSprint Program
Applied for and was accepted to attend SBIR/STTR Research Grant Summit in Albuquerque
NM FAST National Science Foundation SBIR / Micro Grants (Applied for and received
two Micro Grants for assistance on a NSF SBIR Grant application).
Participation in NMSBA research grant with Los Alamos National Labs: Focused Ion Beam
research--MPI provided materials for lab testing)
First direct NMSBA (New Mexico / Small Business Assistance) Research Grant awarded by Los Alamos
National Labs to test and evaluate nanotech particle application methodologies)
U.S. Patent for NIST certified and JITC approved data security product
Appointed Chairman of one of two New Mexico State Arts & Culture District
pilot projects. District Designation awarded by Lt. Governor Diane Denish.
Elected Representative to the Center City Redevelopment Project Area Committee of the Community
Redevelopment Agency, Los Angeles
Featured Speaker: California Governor's Conference on the Arts special program "Beyond
the Millennium: Redefining the Arts for the 21st Century" held at the American Film Institute.
Panelist: Design Thesis Review, Santa Fe University of Art & Design
Judge: New Mexico Highlands University Graduate Show
Judge: Angel Fire Arts Fest
Graduation Speaker: UCLA Extension Visual Arts / Communication Arts graduation
Judge: MidPoint Music Festival
Instructor of the Year by the UCLA Extension Design / Communication Arts Department
Featured Speaker: New Tools for Design at UC Irvine
Graphis Design Annual (Logo Design)
Communication Arts Illustration Annual
ADDITIONAL EDUCATIONAL DETAILS
Roy has organized and moderated special
programs, developed curricula and taught Media Arts, Information Architecture, Experience
Design and Creative Process courses to over 6,000 students and design professionals, many
sent specifically to work with Roy by such organizations as Disney, Time Warner, Pacific Bell,
American Express, Rockwell International, Ogilvy Mather, Toyota Motor Sales, TBWA Chiat/Day,
The Los Angeles Times, The Rand Corporation, Symantec, JPL, Apple Computer, ABC, US Web/CKS,
IBM and AT&T.
Roy has also taught at Chapman University and has spoken at digital media events held at
UC Irvine, Occidental College, USC, Cal State Long Beach, The Los Angeles County Museum
of Art, The Coro Foundation, The American Film Institute.
Roy has hosted numerous graduate exhibitions and has mentored students, graduates and
young businesspeople from UCLA Extension, University of Southern California, UC Irvine,
Chapman University, New Mexico Highlands University, United World College, and other
universities.
Roy has produced, directed and moderated international design symposia featuring keynotes
by renowned London artist/composer/record producer Brian Eno, science fiction author Ray
Bradbury, Swiss designer Wolfgang Weingart, and computer graphics visionary and MacArthur
"genius grant" recipient Jim Blinn of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and many others.
RECOGNITION and PUBLICATIONS
Roy's art work, design work and community projects have been recognized and featured in
the Graphis Design Annual, ID Magazine of International Design, the Communication Arts
Illustration Annual, The Los Angeles Times, Computer Graphics and Applications Magazine,
Downtown LA News, THE Magazine, The Las Vegas Optic, The Orange County Business Journal,
The Los Angeles Business Journal, Indian Country Today, The El Paso Herald and on Fox
News and ABC News broadcasts.
CLIENTS
Roy has contributed design, art direction, creative direction, technical direction and/or
experience design to print, video, exhibit and/or online projects for PacBell, Texas Instruments,
JVC, RainBird International, UCLA Capital Programs, Northern Telecom, American Express, BBDO,
Baxter Healthcare, CooperVision, Geneva Group, Beckman Laser Institute, GE Credit Corporation,
Hitachi Medical Instruments, CalFed Bank, Photonic Data Security, Toyota Motor Sales, Mercedes
Benz, Hyundai Motor America, New Mexico Wildlife Center, Dr. William Glasser, John Wooden
and Peter Drucker.
He has also served as Creative Director for prototypes and pilots for: an online mystery contest
based upon western gold mining history; GolfersLife, (an international online golf expo hosted
by Senior Tour golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez); and Romantica, (a prototype online showcase for
limited-edition art, handmade crafts and home furnishings).
BOARDS & COMMUNITY ACTIVITY
Roy initiated a project to build a $25MM assisted living community: the Las Vegas Senior
Life Community. He had raised over $100K in Bridge funding for this project from local individuals
in the community (a part of which was used to obtain a market study from Tellatin, Short & Hansen
to assess market viability). Due to current uncertainty in the healthcare markets, the LVSLC
project is currently on hold.
As Chairman of the New Mexico Arts & Cultural District | Las Vegas Steering Committee,
Roy was instrumental in drafting the new Las Vegas Cultural Plan and the Arts & Cultural
District boundaries and Master Plan Ordinance. He was also selected by the Mayor to serve on
the Steering Committee for the new City of Las Vegas Downtown Master Plan. His wife Julie
serves on the Mayor's Commission on Film.
In 2007, Roy drafted the SPACE | Las Vegas (Strategic Plan for an Arts & Culture Environment),
a grassroots community initiative. This backbone of an application for an Arts & Cultural District
Designation from the State of New Mexico. The application was selected, and the designation was
awarded by Lt. Governor Diane Denish and three Cabinet Secretaries. The selection committee included
the New Mexico MainStreet / Economic Development Department; Historic Preservation Division of the
Department of Cultural Affairs (DCA); New Mexico Arts Division (DCA); New Mexico Tourism Department;
New Mexico Museum Foundation; McCune Foundation; and New Mexico Arts Commission.
During his time as Chair of ACD | LV, Roy initiated the Second Saturday Artwalk, which he directed
for a consecutive 25 months, which grew to involve over 130 artists and businesses during the high
season; produced the first Traditional Hispanic Arts Show at his gallery Royal Mastodon Society;
and conceived and co-designed a user-driven interactive community website to promote the talents
and events of local artists and businesses.
While living in Downtown Los Angeles, Roy was elected to the Center City Redevelopment Project Area
Committee for the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles (CRA/LA). As a representative of
the Center City area (including the Arts District, the Fashion District, Skid Row and the LAPD
Central Division), Roy's mission was to balance the many conflicting interests of developers,
arts and educational institutions, homeless advocates, property owners, local residential hotel
and loft residents, the LA Conservancy, the City of Los Angeles, local TIFs, BIDs, the ACLU, and
the LAPD.
He has also served on the board of LA Freewaves, a media arts organization that hosts the largest
independent international media arts festival in the U.S.; and Roy has served as the Mission Statement
Ad Hoc Committee Chair for the Arts, Aesthetics and Culture Committee and was an alternate
Arts/Culture/Education Representative for the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council.
Roy has hosted two AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts) studio tours of the Old Bank District
in Downtown LA.
PRO BONO WORK
Roy has contributed time and expertise to pro bono projects for The Museum of Contemporary Art
(for the Streb/Ringside Dance Company of New York), Mozart Camerata, Opera Pacific and The Orange
County Performing Arts Center.
FINE ART
Roy is a practicing contemporary artist. His conceptual, post-digital, mixed-media work is focused
on the mythic, memetic and spacial sources of culture; its development, evolution and fragmentation;
and the subsequent rise and dissemination of discrete and recombinant micro-cultures.
Exhibitions and installations include: The SIGGRAPH Conference Art Show; The Long Beach Museum of Art,
Video Annex; "Dark Tapestries" installation with composer Paul Haslinger at Brandstater Gallery, La
Sierra University; The University of Oregon Museum of Art; Bowers Museum; Modern Museum of Art; LA
Printmakers Society Show; The Old Bank District Group Show; The Farmer's and Merchant's Bank Centennial
Art Exhibit and shows at Royal Mastodon Society.
His first computer system, a Via Video System One, was one of the very first color paint systems
ever made. It weighed 1,200 pounds in the crate and cost as much as the average American home at the
time it was purchased. It has been accepted for inclusion in the collection of the Computing Museum of
America, in San Diego.
PERSONAL ACTIVITIES and INTERESTS
Roy and Julie have purchased, renovated and converted a 100-year old historic building into a live/work
studio and gallery space (Sanctuary Studios); plus 2,000 sq. ft. and 3,000 sq. ft. stone buildings (circa
1860 and 1865) as offices, live/work artist studios plus gallery and performance venues; and is writing
two books for creative professionals: one about designing contexts that transform creative vision into
intended experiences; the other on Adventures in Art, Photography, Design & Technology.
Roy enjoys art, music, literature, film, live theater and memorable culinary experiences; backpacking,
mountain biking and crazy road trips; great cities, art centers and world-class musical venues; and has
an incurable passion for the sheer noise, speed and mechanical beauty of motorcycles, hot rods and Top
Fuel dragsters.
Contact us via LinkedIn to discuss your project needs:
LINKEDIN: THE MONTIBON COMPANY
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Roy on his Harley 1200N.
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Masthead Left: Red
Photograph, Roy Montibon
Masthead Right: Red and White
Photograph, Roy Montibon