Eli Holzman

Eli Holzman has created, written, and produced some of the first popular and critically acclaimed competition-centered reality television shows of the 2000s. His first was developing "Project Greenlight" alongside directors/actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck--a reality competition series with a premise that aimed to give first-time filmmakers a chance to direct a feature film, much like the real-life experience of Damon and Affleck with "Good Will Hunting." There were three seasons in total, with the first winning film "Stolen Summer" being shown at the Sundance Film Festival and the second, "The Battle of Shaker Heights," having moderate critical success. Holzman's second major reality series was "Project Runway," similar in premise to "Project Greenlight," though focused on fashion designers being judged by a panel of major players in the fashion industry, including Elle's Nina Garcia, fashion designer Michael Kors, former supermodel Heidi Klum, and former chair of fashion design at Parsons the New School for Design, Tim Gunn. This series can be considered the most popular of all of Holzman's creations and projects, although "Project Greenlight" was more critically acclaimed. Further delving into the world of fashion, Holzer created "Stylista," which centered on contestants who wanted to become assistant editors at Elle magazine. Holzman teamed up with Tyra Banks and Ken Mok (of "America's Next Top Model" fame) to produce, while Elle's Anne Slowey hosted. Though the series was canceled after only one season, Holzman found success in developing an originally British reality show for American audiences, "Undercover Boss," which has senior executives going undercover to explore the inner workings of their own companies.