Lambert to open US office; hires US reality exec as chief

Eli Holzman

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Former RDF creative director Stephen Lambert has hired Eli Holzman, the US exec behind Project Runway and Beauty & The Geek to lead a US arm of his indie, Studio Lambert.

Holzman co-founded and headed Miramax Television and was also president of Katalyst Films, the indie set up by Hollywood actor Ashton Kutcher, where he developed Beauty & The Geek.

As a producer and showrunner, Holzman's credits include Bravo reality series Art Meets World and CW's upcoming Stylista.

Annie Meek, a producer of The Osbournes, Newlyweds and The Mole has also joined the Los Angeles office as executive in charge of production.

When he formed Studio Lambert in March, Lambert said he had ambitions to set up an LA office once he was up and running in the UK.

The indie has already won two commissions from Channel 4: a teen series with the working title Ultimate Gap Year, and a series developed under the name Benefit Business, which will form part of the broadcaster's year-long State of the Nation series of documentaries.

"Eli is exactly the person we've been looking for, someone with exceptional entrepreneurial and creative talent and experience," Lambert said. "I have no doubt that together we will be a winning team."

Holzman added: "By combining our ideas, extensive industry relationships, and wealth of producing, network and studio experience in the US and UK, Studio Lambert enters the US market with huge potential.  We are dedicated to establishing ourselves quickly as one of the industry's foremost producers of quality non-scripted programming."

In the UK, Lambert has hired former RDF producer Tania Alexander as executive producer for factual entertainment and reality programmes.