Liz Heller

Liz Heller
Born	Elizabeth Heller Los Angeles
Residence	Los Angeles
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles
Occupation	Producer Entrepreneur
Board member of	The Liberty Hill Foundation
Spouse(s)	John Bard Manulis

Elizabeth "Liz" Heller is an American producer and entrepreneur. Described by USA Today as the "'godmother' of the women's cyber movement in Hollywood," Heller is noted for her early advocacy of the internet in the entertainment industry.

Heller was born in Los Angeles and raised in Beverly Hills, California, the daughter of Seymour Heller, a personal manager, and Billie Heller, a women's rights activist. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles.

Heller began her career as an assistant at Epic Records. In 1983, she as hired by MCA Records; as an artist development executive, Heller commissioned more than 500 music videos for artists including Bobby Brown, Belinda Carlisle, and Tom Petty. She remained at MCA until 1990, when she was appointed President of Island Visual Arts. In 1994, Heller began working at Capitol Records, where she served as Vice President of New Media, and gained attention for developing early strategic alliances between the label and Microsoft, Macromedia, Liquid Audio and Apple, among other technology companies. Additionally, Heller acted as an executive producer on several of the label's soundtrack releases. She was named Executive Vice President of Capitol in 1996.

While at Capitol, Heller was reunited with music video director Scott Kalvert, who she had worked with at Island Visual Arts. Kalvert, who grew up in New York, had spent more than a decade unsuccessfully "making the studio rounds," trying to get Jim Carroll's autobiography,The Basketball Diaries, made into a film. Excited by the idea, Heller took the project to her former boss, Chris Blackwell, who agreed to invest in the film. Heller produced The Basketball Diaries, which starred Leonardo DiCaprio, released by Palm Pictures in 1995.

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