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Kenneth Joel "Kenny" Hotz is a Canadian writer, director, actor, producer and photographer. He is a former South Park consultant, creator/co-star of the Canadian television show Kenny vs. Spenny and creator/co-writer of the Showcase/FX series Testees.
Early life
Hotz was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1967 [Link removed - login to see]. When Kenny was three, the top of his right index finger was removed in a bicycle accident. At the age of seven years old,[Link removed - login to see] Kenny was sent to a film camp where he made his first film. Hotz began making documentaries in 1989, and had the idea to develop a tele
Kenneth Joel "Kenny" Hotz is a Canadian writer, director, actor, producer and photographer. He is a former South Park consultant, creator/co-star of the Canadian television show Kenny vs. Spenny and creator/co-writer of the Showcase/FX series Testees.
Early life
Hotz was born in Toronto, Ontario in 1967 [Link removed - login to see]. When Kenny was three, the top of his right index finger was removed in a bicycle accident. At the age of seven years old,[Link removed - login to see] Kenny was sent to a film camp where he made his first film. Hotz began making documentaries in 1989, and had the idea to develop a television show in which he and a friend competed in a series of challenges to prove who was the best, which eventually evolved into Kenny vs. Spenny.
Upon graduating from Ryerson University's media arts program, Hotz became an accomplished filmmaker and photographer, and in 1991, he traveled around the world. In that year he went to cover the Gulf War as the only registered Canadian artist to do so. Hotz had been working as a photographer since 1986, photographing numerous countries and historic world events. The subjects of his photo essays include Auschwitz, Dachau, Needle Park (Zurich, Switzerland), David Koresh, Mount Carmel, Waco, and New Years' in Times Square 2000.
Career
After returning to Canada, Hotz worked on a comedic short about the life and death of a homeless dwarf in Toronto named Shorty Gordy with Spencer Rice. He also worked as a writer for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1987. In that same year, he starred (with Rice) in the documentary Pitch. Hotz then moved to Los Angeles to develop television programming. Eventually, Hotz started development on Kenny vs. Spenny.
Kenny vs. Spenny was nominated for a Gemini award in 2004. Hotz was a guest with Rice on Jimmy Kimmel, Tom Green, Carson Daly and Late Night with Conan O'Brien in New York. Hotz notes that “I sat next to Conan.” In 2004, he finished his second feature film titled The Papal Chase, a documentary about Hotz trying to meet the Pope John Paul II. The film is directed by and stars Hotz, and features cameos by The Rolling Stones and Pope John Paul II. Hotz was given an unprecedented $10,000 prize by a jury when the film won the acclaimed Phillip Borsos award for Best Canadian Feature Film in 2004 at the Whistler Film Festival. He also created the concept for the 3D video game "Versusville" for the Kenny vs. Spenny series and was nominated for the Canadian New Media Awards for "Excellence in Gaming."[Link removed - login to see]
Hotz recently consulted on the animated series South Park, also writing the episodes "Follow That Egg!" and "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow".
In 2008, Hotz was writing a third feature film. He developed a sitcom called Testees for the Fox-owned FX that year, producing 13 shows centering on product testers in various markets. The show started airing in October 2008 on FX and the Canadian-owned Showcase cable channel.The Toronto Star, Kenny 'testees' the waters, Rob Salem, July 17, 2008
Kenny is Jewish, as evidenced in one episode of Kenny vs. Spenny ("Who Can Eat the Most Meat?"). As he blends up a "meat smoothie," to which he adds pork, he notes that his "rabbi is going to be so pissed." He also pretends to sing in his local synagogue choir in "First to Stop Singing Loses" (against the rules of that particular competition) and he mentions it in the "Who Do Old People Like More" episode, where he believes it will help him win. He is fluent in Hebrew, as noted in "Who's the Better Jew". However, in an interview Kenny Hotz stated that he does not care about religion and considers himself an Atheist.network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/07/28/jesus-sucks-tv-duo-s-banner-tells-toronto.aspx
Kenny was recently embroiled in a controversy with the British Columbia Human Rights Commission for alleged hate speech for his actions in the episode "Who Can Piss Off More People", where he paid to have a plane fly over Toronto dragging a banner that reads "Jesus Sucks"."B.C. man files human-rights complaint over 'Jesus sucks' banner". The Vancouver Sun. Published August 2, 2008.
Hotz had a small part in Kevin Smith's 2008 film Zack and Miri Make A Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks.[Link removed - login to see].
Filmography
* Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)IMDb.com
* It Don't Cost Nothin' to Say Good Morning (1994)
* Pitch (1997)
* Kenny vs. Spenny (2002-present)
* The Papal Chase (2004)
* Ed vs. Spencer (2004)
* South Park - Three episodes (2005)
* Elton vs. Simon (2005)
* Testees (2008)
* Zack and Miri Make a Porno (Cameo as the other Zack) (2008)[Link removed - login to see]
Awards and nominations
* Brooklyn international film festival (2005) - Audience award (best documentary) for The Papal Chase
* Canadian Filmmakers' Festival (2005) - Audience award (documentary) for The Papal Chase
* Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (1996) - Best Canadian documentary for It Don't Cost Nothin' to Say Good Morning
* Whistler Film Festival (2004) - Phillip Borsos Award For the Papal Chase
* Gemini Awards (2004) - Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny (Nomination)
* Gemini Awards (2006) - Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny (Nomination)
* Gemini Awards (2008) - Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Kenny vs. Spenny (Nomination)
* Gemini Awards (2009) - Gemini for Best Comedy Program or Series for: Testees (Nomination)
* Gemini Awards (2009) - Gemini for Best Comedy Writing in a program or Series for: Testees (Nomination)
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Trivia
* He is an award-winning photographer. He served as the only registered Canadian Artist to document The Gulf War in 1991.
* He made his 1st film when he was 6 years old and was given an award for his effort by Henry Winkler.
* Kenny dated Kilauren Gibb, the daughter of Joni Mitchell for 3 years.
* Kenny Hotz is the inaugural winner of the Phillip Borsos award for best Canadian feature film.
* Kenny made the first Canadian feature films to have appearances by Al Pacino and Pope John Paul.
* Kenny is a contributing writer and award winning columnist for Vice.
* Kenny was the first person to say "fuck" on CBC Television (established in 1936).
* Kenny vs. Spenny was voted one of the Top 10 Canadian TV shows of the decade by Macleans magazine in 2010.
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Tags: Actor (2), Director (1), Multifarious Personality (1), Gulf War Photo-journalist (1), Cunning (1), Hairy (1), Vice (1), Born 1967 (1), Columnist (1), Screenwriter (1), Jew (1), Eccentric (1), Producer (1), Jewish (1), Comedian (1), Canadian (1), Writer (1)
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