TV Producer Eric Neuhaus on Nurturing Big Ideas 

Foolish notion? There's no such thing

Eric is an Emmy-nominated television executive, podcast developer and author with 25 years of experience creating, producing and shaping content. He is noted for delivering documentary and non-fiction programming across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. As SVP of development at Glass Entertainment Group, Eric led the development of 50 original series and more than 500 episodes—driving nearly $200 million in revenue. He was instrumental in securing and crafting shows for Netflix, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, HGTV and AMC. Beyond television, he has authored five nonfiction/prescriptive books and shepherded high-impact podcasts.

We spent two minutes with Eric to learn more about his background, his creative inspirations and recent work he’s admired.

Eric, tell us …

Where you grew up, and where you live now. 

I grew up on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. This was a unique experience, having the city as my playground. By the time college rolled around, I decided on Wesleyan University in a small Connecticut town. Now, I live with my partner in Philadelphia and enjoy city life without the craziness of NYC. 

How you first realized you were creative. 

It started with music at a young age, including piano and cello. From there I became interested in television and documentaries. One summer, I was staying in Woodstock, N.Y., where the Woodstock ’99 Festival was taking place. I picked up a camera and started interviewing fans who got stranded at the local 7-Eleven and turned it into a short called “Searching for Woodstock.” 

A moment from high school or college that changed your life. 

In college, one of the most challenging moments was when I had to declare a major. I settled on sociology, and that helped me focus on one area and allowed me to combine different disciplines.  

Your most important creative inspirations, and some recent stuff you love. 

Director Robert Altman. His films felt like he was documenting real life, though they were scripted and planned. He was ahead of his time, in terms of pushing boundaries. Two of his projects had the most influence: The Player, a hilarious and scathing critique of Hollywood, and his only TV series, Tanner ’88, in which Altman created a fictional presidential candidate and followed him on the campaign trail. For me, creativity must lean into comedy and Altman captured this in a way I had never seen before. Now, my tastes are a little darker and I love to watch true crime documentaries that keep you guessing until the end. 

One of your favorite creative projects you’ve ever worked on. 

I created one of the longest running docu-series on Animal Planet, called Tanked. I came up with the idea to turn ordinary objects like cars, refrigerators, old jukeboxes and gumball machines into fish tanks. Along those same lines, I created a documentary special for TLC called Extreme Poodles. It followed a real competition where groomers turned their poodles into astounding creations like a panda, lion and even the NYC skyline. The transformations were jaw-dropping. But the groomers themselves were the real stars.  

Play

A recent project you’re proud of. 

My (most recently) Netflix Emmy-nominated documentary Bitconned. This was a story about one of the largest cryptocurrency scams in the world, centered around Ray Trapani, who devised the scheme. Ray was such a great character and had no filter whatsoever. The film isn’t funny per se, but there are hilarious story beats we leaned into, like how Ray created a fictitious CEO of the company by doing a Google image search of “Old White Guys.” In addition, to defend his fake company, Ray hired an attorney—who turned out to be fake, too, and was scamming Ray. What I love about my work are these things that you just can’t make up.  

Someone else’s work that inspired you years ago. 

Having grown up in NYC, there was so much creativity around me. Every two years, the Whitney Museum of American Art put on a biennale show which highlighted the most cutting-edge art in America. It was during that time I first encountered Jeff Koons. He takes pop culture and turns it into sculptures that question our very idea of what beauty is.  

Someone else’s work you admired lately. 

Theater director Jamie Lloyd, who transformed Sunset Boulevard into something groundbreaking. I admired his courage to strip down the show and use video technology to enhance the storytelling and drama. It doesn’t hurt to have Nicole Scherzinger as your star. I am anxious to see his re-interpretation of Evita, currently playing in London.

Your main strength as a creative person. 

I believe that there are no “stupid” ideas, but the challenge is always how to transform a “bad” idea into a successful one. It’s a challenge, because when you pitch an idea to someone, their first reaction is, “Oh, that’s a bad idea.” A talented creative executive, however, can see something more. And I can honestly say that ability is why I have been successful. 

When I first pitched Tanked, the reaction was always: “Who cares about fish tanks?” I was able to argue that this was not about fish, but about fulfilling childhood fantasies focused on two tank builders who were fun to watch. 

When I came up with a podcast centered around O.J. Simpson, my idea was telling the story through one of the victim’s sisters, Kim Goldman, who wanted to “confront” O.J. about his alleged involvement in her brother’s murder. Just about every executive I pitched the project to said it was a bad idea because we could never get Kim to actually confront O.J. It was never about the actual confrontation. Rather, it was more metaphorical, as Kim “confronted” her own truth about what happened and why. Confronting O.J. Simpson became a No.1 show with over 20 million downloads.  

Your biggest weakness. 

As a creative person, I take everything very personally, and every project feels like it has a piece of me in it. So, when a buyer says “no,” I take this personally. Which I know I shouldn’t do. But so be it.  

A mentor who helped you navigate the industry. 

When I was finishing graduate school at NYU, my dream job was to work in television. A friend of a friend was a producer at 20/20. I persuaded this producer, David Sloan, to hire me as an intern. He helped me navigate the politics of ABC News, and I was able to advance to editorial producer and stayed there for over 10 years. Our paths crossed again just a few years ago when I pitched him a show at ABC News Studios called Betrayal, now in its third season on Hulu. It was a full-circle moment, as he was the one who gave me my first break. And now, I was able to give him a hit series.  

What you’d be doing if you weren’t in advertising. 

French pastry chef. I love the creativity of baking and trying out new recipes. There’s no limit to what you can create with sugar and chocolate.