Todd Holland ’83

Director Todd Holland ’83 will be among the anxious UCLA alumni when the 2009 Emmys are handed out on Sept. 20. Holland was nominated as Best Director for his work on the popular 30 Rock episode, “Generalissimo.” (For a list of other Bruins who are nominated or work on nominated projects, click here.)

Holland is an entertainment veteran who has helmed nearly 250 episodes of critically acclaimed television, two feature films, received three Emmy Awards, five CableAce Awards, seven Emmy nominations, a Directors Guild of America (DGA) award, six DGA nominations and two of TV Guide's 100 Greatest Television Episodes of All Time.

Holland was executive producer and director of the runaway hit series, Malcolm in the Middle, which became one of America's most lauded and popular shows. He also co-created, directed and executive-produced the wickedly offbeat dramedy Wonderfalls.

Holland first displayed his flair for dramatic and quirky suspense as the director of several episodes of Twin Peaks and a CableAce Award for his episode of Tales From the Crypt, in which actor Jon Lovitz went to murderous lengths to obtain a role. In 2002 Holland directed and executive produced the pilot The Time Tunnel, a remake of the classic 1966 Irwin Allen series. It was preceded by Freakylinks, the third of Holland's pilots to be picked up in three years, following Malcolm and D.C., a one-hour WB drama executive-produced by Law & Order's Dick Wolf.

Holland honed his comedic skills as a key creative force behind HBO's The Larry Sanders Show, one of the most honored series of the last decade. Holland directed 52 episodes during the show's six seasons.

Holland's ability to gracefully traverse genres and photographic styles is evident in his early work, a panoply of venerated and beloved television programming that includes Felicity, Tracy Takes On, Friends, Twin Peaks, Max Headroom and My So-Called Life.

In addition to his impressive television credits, Holland also has directed two feature films, the 1998 comedy Krippendorf's Tribe, starring Richard Dreyfus, Jenna Elfman and Lily Tomlin, as well as the 1989 release, The Wizard, starring Beau Bridges, Christian Slater and Fred Savage.