As a filmmaker, executive producer and television executive, Tom was responsible for some of the world's top-rated documentary programs
and won seven Emmy awards. Programs he executive-produced received over 150 awards for excellence including a Dupont-Columbia
Journalism Award, Peabody Awards and over three dozen Emmys.
He was the co-founder and president of Working Dog Productions, a New York
based video and film production company specializing in non-fiction
television programming for the U.S. and world markets from 1998 thru 2014. Working Dog's clients included HBO, PBS, the Cooking
Channel, National Geographic Channel, Animal Planet and The History
Channel,
Tom served for ten years as vice-president of programming and
production, and executive producer of the National Geographic Specials
and National Geographic Explorer. Before joining National Geographic,
he was Senior Producer of Smithsonian World on PBS.
He was also an independent producer and consultant. He produced,
directed and wrote programs such as Inca: Secrets of the Ancestors,
part of Time-Life's Emmy-winning Lost Civilizations series on NBC.
Earlier in his career, Tom was a freelance producer-director of
documentaries for NBC and WNET and staff producer for cinema verite
pioneers Albert and David Maysles.