Background and career
Eli Holzman is an American creator–developer, writer, producer and television executive. He is known for creating or serving as executive producer on a number of reality-based television series and documentaries, such as Project Runway, Project Greenlight, The Seven Five, Undercover Boss, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Free Meek, Living Undocumented, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. Holzman is the founder and CEO of The Intellectual Property Corporation. He is the former head of Miramax Television, Katalyst Films, Studio Lambert, All3Media America and Sony Pictures Television Nonfiction. He has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for the television series' Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath and Undercover Boss, and won the PGA Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television for Scientology and the Aftermath in 2016.
After graduating from The Bronx High School of Science, Eli Holzman began his career at Miramax Films in early 1996. There, he worked on numerous films, including In Too Deep and Rounders. Holzman was soon promoted to junior executive, working for top exec Meryl Poster. As a junior executive, he identified television as an untapped market for the studio. Holzman moved to Los Angeles in 1998 to play a role in founding Miramax's television arm, Miramax Television. While there, he helped develop a wide variety of projects, covering the full breadth of genres, including Kevin Smith's Clerks: The Animated Series, Kevin Williamson's Wasteland for ABC, Glory Days for The WB and The Nanny Diaries. Holzman's first major unscripted hit series came after he developed and produced the HBO series Project Greenlight with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, helping to drive the initial boom in popularity for reality television shows. He was soon promoted to the top executive position at Miramax Television where he created the popular show Project Runway, which has run for 17 seasons to date and currently airs on Bravo in the United States.
After his departure from Miramax, Holzman was hired in 2005 as president of Ashton Kutcher's production company Katalyst Films, best known for the MTV prank series Punk'd. In 2005, Holzman developed and launched the reality television show Beauty and the Geek and developed Katalyst's inaugural slate of scripted programming.
In 2006, Holzman left Katalyst to become an independent producer. While independent, he created and/or executive produced such primetime reality shows as the CW reality series Stylista, along with Desiree Gruber, Jane Cha, Tyra Banks and Ken Mok. Holzman was inspired to create Stylista after a meeting with Anna Wintour. Holzman also served as the executive producer on the first two seasons of the G4 reality series The Block. In 2009, he co-created Bravo reality series Work of Art: The Next Great Artist with Sarah Jessica Parker.
Holzman founded and ran Studio Lambert's American business when it was launched in 2008, serving as the company's president. He was recruited for the role by reality television executive Stephen Lambert. Lambert and Holzman's first collaboration was the CBS reality show Undercover Boss, which premiered to 38.7 million viewers after the Super Bowl, the largest audience ever for a new series following the Super Bowl. The show went on to earn two Primetime Emmy Awards. In November 2010, Holzman and Lambert published a book entitled Undercover Boss: Inside the TV Phenomenon That Is Changing Bosses and Employees Everywhere. While at Studio Lambert USA, Holzman oversaw and launched a variety of other reality shows, including The Pitch for AMC, Consumed for CNBC, The People's Couch for Bravo, The Million Second Quiz for NBC, Weed Country and Outlaw Empires for Discovery, Trouble Next Door for OWN, Be The Boss for TNT, Rat Bastards and Diamond Divers for Spike, Mel B: It's a Scary World for Style Network, Fairy Jobmother and Supermarket Superstar for Lifetime, Mystery Millionaire for WEtv, Model Employee for VH1, and Southern Fried Stings for TruTV.
In 2013, Studio Lambert USA merged with the other Los Angeles-based production companies owned by British super-indie All3Media to form All3Media America. Holzman oversaw the operation which housed production companies including Studio Lambert USA, Maverick, Objective, Lime Pictures, Morocco Junction, MME/Filmpool, and Zoo Productions. Holzman also launched All3Media's American scripted television operation. Series produced under the various All3Media America companies included Make Me a Millionaire Inventor for CNBC, Slednecks for MTV, True Tori for Lifetime, Chrisley Knows Best for USA, Hot Grits for VH1, Work Out New York for Bravo, and United Shades of America and Declassified: The Untold Stories of American Spies for CNN. In 2014, Holzman produced the critically acclaimed documentary The Seven Five, chronicling the misdeeds of the infamous, corrupt NYC cop Michael Dowd. The documentary is currently being adapted into a scripted feature by Sony Pictures and Annapurna, with Holzman producing.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
