Todd Holland

Television and film director and producer

What is Todd Holland known for?

Born on the 13th of December, 1961, in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, Todd Holland is known for a successful career in the television and film industry. Notably, Holland is an alumnus of Meadville Area High School in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where he highlighted his early creative talent by producing several parodies of popular movies of the time. He later graduated from UCLA's school of Theater, Film, and Television in 1985.

Holland's professional breakthrough came when renowned filmmaker Steven Spielberg viewed Holland's UCLA thesis film, a comedic horror short titled 'Chicken Thing', and subsequently hired him to contribute to the second season of 'Amazing Stories'. Holland's directing career flourished as he went on to helm over 50 episodes of 'The Larry Sanders Show', earning him an Emmy for the series finale 'FLIP'.

His successful trajectory continued as he joined forces with Linwood Boomer for the Fox sitcom 'Malcolm in the Middle', directing 26 episodes and serving as co-executive producer. His work on the show garnered him two Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series. His first win came for the pilot episode and the second for the highly acclaimed season two episode 'Bowling', for which he also achieved a DGA award for excellence in comedy directing.

On top of his television success, Todd Holland has made a significant contribution to the world of film. His feature films include 'The Wizard' (1989), 'Krippendorf's Tribe' (1998), 'Firehouse Dog' (2007), as well as the TV movie 'Monster High: The Movie' (2022) and its 2023 sequel. Two episodes that he directed, 'Everybody Loves Larry' from 'The Larry Sanders Show' and 'Life Of Brian' from 'My So-Called Life', have been recognized among TV Guide's "100 greatest Episodes of Television".

In his personal life, Holland is married to actor Scotch Ellis Loring and they have three children together. Over the decades, Holland's remarkable body of work in the entertainment industry continues to be a source of inspiration for aspiring filmmakers from his alma mater, Meadville Area High School, and beyond.