Compassion Through The Media: Eli Holzman

Season 2, Episode 24, Release Date: 3-29-2024

Compassion Through The Media

 

Welcome to this episode, where I was able to have a "Compassionate Conversation" with a childhood friend of mine: Eli Holzman. Eli is the CEO of The Intellectual Property Corporation, which he founded in 2016. Eli is President of Sony Pictures Television, Nonfiction.

I wanted to speak with Eli about therapy, and how it is represented in the media, because Eli knows media! He is a writer and executive producer who has won numerous Primetime Emmy Awards, Critic Choice Real TV Awards, and also MTV and TV Awards. 

He has over 75 shows that he has been the Executive Produce on, which include Undercover Boss, Project Runway, Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, Free Meek, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance.

 

We spoke about Project Runway, and how Eli filmed this at Parsons: The New School for Deign, and positive power that the show had to influence people. Eli said, "On the show something special happened. Contestants started helping each other, they weren't cut throat. They were kind."

 

Eli shared that as he was building his first company he was creating Undercover Boss. "This helped me define my values." Eli shared how some of his employers led by fear, but he wanted to find another ways to lead!

He recognized on Undercover Boss that "humans crave esteem as much as water and air. Just seeing someone receive this can touch us."

 

Eli spoke about the current crisis in television. "Our tastes have become so broad, and there are so many options out there now." 

 

I wanted to know, what would a counseling reality show look like? We spoke about "Couple's Counseling" as one option. Eli spoke about some of the challenges of a counseling reality show. (a) people like stories were there are big changes, and drama. Counseling could be slow and incremental. (b) the topics that are covered could be very specific to the people involved. (c) TV and media are going to represent a small percetage of the population that have the personality and skills to capture the interest of an audience.

 

Eli said he feels it could be very helpful to explore how we can monitor our bodies, and how this information can lead us to making better decisions. He also feels that it could be interesting and important to understand more about inter-generational legacies and how these are passed down and impact us.

 

Eli spke about how our mental health is manipulated on a regular basis, perhap more than any other time in history. This is done by the computers that we carry around in our pockets (our smart phones). This technology is engineered to capture our attention, and is very deliberate.

We are in a time in history where these devices in our pocket also hold all of the solutions to our problems-- all the answers to our mental and emotional health are within our reach, if we know how to search for them.