Hotz has directed a number of films, including Pitch, It Don't Cost Nothin' to Say Good Morning, The Papal Chase and Subscribe.

Hotz was born to a Jewish family[5] and as a child attended the United Synagogue Day School, later graduating from Forest Hill Collegiate Institute.

[7][8][9] Hotz met Spencer Rice in high school, and the pair later went on to direct films together and create Kenny vs Spenny.

[12] Hotz began as a documentary filmmaker and news photographer, creating photo essays on subjects including Auschwitz, Dachau, and the Gulf War.

[13] His additional photo essays also include Needle Park in Zürich, Switzerland, David Koresh, Mount Carmel, Romanian orphanages after Nicolae Ceauşescu and New Year's Eve 2000 in Times Square.

The show was embroiled in a deliberate controversy with the British Columbia Human Rights Commission for Hotz's 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".

[20] In 2004, Hotz also created the concept for the videogame Versusville to accompany the television show, which was nominated for a Canadian New Media Award for Excellence in Gaming.

[9] In 2009, Maclean's magazine named Kenny vs. Spenny the number eight pick in its list of the top ten Canadian television shows of the previous decade.

[22] Kenny vs. Spenny show was broadcast in over 25 countries and licensed globally, with remakes including Cenk vs. Erdem in Turkey, Juan vs. Roman in Colombia, Katja vs. Bridget in the Netherlands, and Ed vs. Spencer in the UK.

Hotz worked as a consultant and writer on South Park, providing material for episodes including "Follow That Egg!"

[34] In 2008, Hotz created the sitcom Testees for FX Networks, producing 13 shows centering on two roommates who work as guinea pigs for a mediocre product testing facility.

[38] The series produced six episodes[31] and showed Hotz attempting to complete major tasks that challenged the social assumptions of both his audience and himself, including the building of a Jewish funded mosque for Muslims,[13][39] and finding his widowed mother a new boyfriend.

[41] Hotz is an executive producer, host and columnist for Vice, and won the publication's best fiction article of the year award in 2006.

[42] Then in 2016 Vice Media aired a TV special starring Hotz, entitled Getting an Election executive produced by Spike Jonze.

[43] It was nominated for the Academy of Canadian Television and Cinema award for Best Original Series produced for Digital Media – Non-Fiction.

[79] In 2013, he received the "Sovereign's Medal for Volunteers" from the Governor General of Canada for his work supporting childhood survivors of sexual abuse.