Aaron Saidman | |
---|---|
Born | December 11, 1974 |
Nationality | American |
Occupation(s) | Television producer, documentary filmmaker |
Years active | 2012 - Present |
Notable work | Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath Declassified The Seven Five Undercover Boss The Pitch The People's Couch True Life Mind Field Free Meek Indian Matchmaking Living Undocumented This Is Paris Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer |
Website | www |
Aaron Saidman (born December 11, 1974) is an American creator-developer, documentary filmmaker and television producer known for creating or serving as an executive producer on a number of non-fiction television series and documentary feature films, including Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath , Curse of Von Dutch, Mind Field, Declassified: Untold Stories of American Spies , The Pitch, The Seven Five, Free Meek and Night Stalker: The Hunt For a Serial Killer . [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Saidman is the President and co-founder of The Intellectual Property Corporation, which he created in 2016 with longtime producing partner Eli Holzman. [6]
In 2017, The Hollywood Reporter named Saidman one of the "Top 10 Power Players" in reality television. [7] Later that year, Saidman won a Primetime Emmy Award for Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, in the category of Outstanding Informational Series or Special, [8] [9] as well as a TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Reality Programming, [10] and a Producers Guild of America Award for Best Non-Fiction Television for the first and second seasons of the series. [11] Saidman and Holzman developed the high-profile Scientology series with actress Leah Remini after Saidman heard that Remini and her agents were interested in producing a documentary about her experience in the Church of Scientology. [12] Saidman also executive produced the documentary series Active Shooter: America Under Fire, which premiered on Showtime in 2017. [13]
In 2018, Saidman was named President of Industrial Media, following CORE Media Group’s acquisition of The Intellectual Property Corporation. [14] [15] Saidman is a member of the board of directors of the International Documentary Association (IDA) from 2018 to 2022 [16]
In 2019, Saidman and Anna Chai co-directed the Netflix documentary series Living Undocumented , which Saidman executive produced with Eli Holzman, Selena Gomez, and her mother Mandy Teefey, Sean O’Grady and Anna Chai. [17] The series follows eight undocumented immigrants living in the United States, and was nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award in the category of "Outstanding Editing: Documentary" in 2020. [18] [19] In 2019, Living Undocumented was nominated for an IDA Award for "Best Episodic Series." [20]
In 2020, Saidman was one of the executive producers for the Netflix unscripted television series Indian Matchmaking . [21] That same year, he produced the critically acclaimed documentary This Is Paris , about socialite Paris Hilton and directed by Alexandra Dean. [22] Saidman approached Hilton in 2018 after reading an article about her and the cultural trends she had started, wittingly and unwittingly, and grew curious about who she was as a person. After meeting, Saidman and Hilton decided to make a documentary that was "truly authentic" and could "reveal the deeper essence of who Paris really is—in a way that the public hadn’t really seen before, but also in a way that Paris herself hadn’t really come to terms with and hadn’t explored herself." [23] This Is Paris was chosen as an official selection at the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival. [24] Saidman also served as an executive producer for the HBO documentary series We’re Here, which was released in 2020 [25] and he eventually won a Peabody Award for the show in 2023. [26] [27] Saidman also created and produced the cooking series Selena + Chef , his second collaboration with Selena Gomez, which was released on August 13, 2020. [28] [29] [30]
In 2021, it was announced that Saidman would produce a documentary series about the fashion brand Von Dutch for Hulu. [31] Saidman also served as an executive producer for the true crime docuseries Night Stalker:The Hunt for a Serial Killer, which was released in 2021. [32]
After Sony Pictures Television acquired Industrial Media in 2022, the company named Saidman Co-President of Nonfiction Entertainment, a new division focused on nonfiction content. [33] [34] Saidman served as executive producer for the A&E documentary series Secrets of Playboy, which was released in 2022. [35] [36]
Saidman executive produced the film The Disappearance of Shere Hite, a documentary about the life of sex researcher Shere Hite, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2023. [37] In March 2023, Saidman was a guest on Emmy-winning producer Jimmy Fox’s podcast titled Unscripted and Unprepared. [38]
In the same year, he was a guest on Tablet Magazine’s podcast Unorthodox [39] where he discussed his role as executive producer for the dating series Jewish Matchmaking, which was released on Netflix in May 2023. [40] [41] [42] Saidman is Jewish. [43]
Saidman executive produced the documentary series Deadlocked: How America Shaped the Supreme Court, for which he was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series. [44]
Leah Marie Remini is an American actress. She starred as Carrie Heffernan on the CBS sitcom The King of Queens (1998–2007) and as Vanessa Celluci in the CBS sitcom Kevin Can Wait (2017–2018), both alongside Kevin James.
Richard Anthony Wolf is an American film and television producer, best known for his Law & Order franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is also creator and executive producer of the Chicago franchise, which since 2012 has included four Chicago-based dramas, and the creator and executive producer of the FBI franchise, which since 2018 has also become a franchise after spinning off two additional series.
Selena Marie Gomez is an American singer, songwriter, actress, producer, and businesswoman. She began her career as a child actress, starring on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004). Gomez rose to prominence and emerged as a teen idol, for her leading role as Alex Russo on the Disney Channel sitcom Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). As a recording artist, she signed with Hollywood Records in 2008 and formed the pop rock band Selena Gomez & the Scene, for which she served as lead vocalist. With three studio albums and seven singles, each of the band's releases have received gold certifications or higher by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Brian Volk-Weiss is an American film and television producer and director. He is the founder and current chief executive officer (CEO) of The Nacelle Company and its subsidiary company, Comedy Dynamics.
Andrew Fried is an American documentary filmmaker, producer and director, and the president of Boardwalk Pictures. Fried is known for producing documentary films and television series, such as Chef's Table, The Black Godfather, Last Chance U, 7 Days Out, My Love, Men in Kilts, Booktube, Street Food, Cheer, Val and The Goop Lab with Gwyneth Paltrow. He directed the 2020 documentary film We Are Freestyle Love Supreme.
Eli Holzman is an American creator–developer, writer, producer and television executive 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.
Jeff Jenkins is an American producer known for his work in reality television. He is best known for producing The Simple Life, Total Divas, and Keeping Up with the Kardashians and Coming Out Colton.
Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology is a biographical memoir by the American actress, producer, author, and comedian Leah Remini. Published in November 2015, it chronicles her life, her acting career, her experiences as a member of the Church of Scientology from a young age, and her subsequent split from Scientology. The book received favorable reviews and became a bestseller soon after publication, though the Church of Scientology was strongly critical of it.
Connor Schell is an American producer of television and film and founder of non-fiction production studio Words + Pictures. He is the co-creator with Bill Simmons and executive producer of the 30 for 30 series for ESPN. Schell was also an executive producer of the Academy Award-winning documentary film O.J.: Made in America and the Emmy Award-winning miniseries The Last Dance.
Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath is an American documentary series that investigates the Church of Scientology through the experiences of American actress Leah Remini and other former members. She was a follower of Scientology between 1979, when she joined at the age of nine alongside her parents, and 2013, when she left under acrimonious circumstances. She subsequently became an outspoken critic of Scientology and published a bestselling memoir, Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology, in 2015.
The Intellectual Property Corporation (IPC) is a reality television and documentary production company based in Van Nuys, California. IPC is owned by Sony Pictures Television through their Nonfiction division, formerly known as Industrial Media.
Selena Gomez is an American actress, singer, and producer. As a child, she began her acting career by appearing on the children's television series Barney & Friends (2002–2004). She rose to prominence for her lead role as Alex Russo on the Emmy Award-winning Disney Channel television series, Wizards of Waverly Place (2007–2012). It garnered positive reviews, with Gomez's being particularly praised for her comic timing and sarcastic delivery. Gomez had a leading role as an aspiring dancer in the direct-to-video film Another Cinderella Story (2008), and won the Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie — Leading Young Actress. This was followed by lead roles in two 2009 Disney Channel films—Princess Protection Program and Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie—the latter was cable's number-one scripted telecast of the year in total viewers and won a Primetime Emmy Award. Gomez then starred in the film adaptation of the children's novel series by Beverly Cleary, Ramona and Beezus (2010), with Gomez portraying Beezus Quimby. The following year, she played the lead role of Grace, a teenager "mistaken for a British heiress", in the comedy film Monte Carlo.
Living Undocumented is a 2019 Netflix documentary series co-directed by Aaron Saidman and Anna Chai and executive produced by Selena Gomez, Mandy Teefey, Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Sean O’Grady and Anna Chai. The series documents eight illegal immigrant families living in the United States. The series was produced by Industrial Media-owned production company The Intellectual Property Corporation. It was released on October 2, 2019.
We're Here is an American reality television series on HBO featuring former Drag Race contestants. The series premiered on April 23, 2020, and documents drag queens as they travel across the United States to recruit small-town residents to participate in one-night-only drag shows. In June 2020, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on October 11, 2021. In December 2021, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on November 25, 2022. The first three seasons featured Bob the Drag Queen, Eureka O'Hara and Shangela. A fourth season was announced in 2023 with new queens Jaida Essence Hall, Priyanka, Sasha Velour and Latrice Royale.
Don't F**k with Cats: Hunting an Internet Killer is a 2019 true crime docuseries about an online manhunt. It is written and directed by Mark Lewis and was released on Netflix on December 18, 2019. The series chronicles events following a crowd-sourced amateur investigation into a series of animal cruelty acts committed by Canadian pornographic actor Luka Magnotta, culminating in his murder of Chinese international student Jun Lin. It was one of Netflix's Top 5 most-watched documentaries of 2019.
Love on the Spectrum is an Australian reality television show that follows people on the autism spectrum as they explore the dating world. The show is produced by Northern Pictures for ABC TV, and was made available to stream on ABC iview and Netflix.
Selena + Chef is an American television cooking show hosted by Selena Gomez that premiered on HBO Max on August 13, 2020. The first season consists of 10 episodes. In August 2020, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on November 19, 2020, and continues into early 2021. In April 2021, the series was renewed for a third season which was released on October 28, 2021. In November 2021, the series was renewed for a fourth season which premiered on August 18, 2022. On October 2, 2023, it was announced that the series would return for a holiday special entitled Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays premiered on November 30, 2023 on Food Network.
Deaf U is an American reality television program on Netflix that follows a group of deaf and hard of hearing college students who attend Gallaudet University, a federally chartered private university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing that is located in Washington, D.C. Among the series' executive producers is deaf activist, model, and actor Nyle DiMarco. According to DiMarco, the goal of the series is "to show deaf people as humans, from all walks of life."
Cooking with Paris is an American six-part reality cooking show presented by Paris Hilton. It was released on August 4, 2021, on Netflix. In January 2022, Netflix cancelled the series after its first season.
Alex Stapleton is an American director, showrunner, and executive producer of documentary feature films and unscripted television.