Max Joseph is an American filmmaker, television host, writer, producer, and cinematographer who has a net worth of $1 million.

Max Joseph is best known for co-hosting MTV's "Catfish: The TV Show" alongside Nev Schulman. On the series, Joseph served as the skeptical, dry-witted cameraman and co-investigator as the show explored online relationships, identity deception, and internet romance. His calm, analytical personality helped balance Schulman's more emotional hosting style, making their partnership one of MTV's most recognizable reality-TV duos of the 2010s. Outside of "Catfish," Joseph is a filmmaker who has directed shorts, commercials, documentaries, web videos, and the 2015 feature film "We Are Your Friends," starring Zac Efron, Emily Ratajkowski, and Wes Bentley. He has also directed documentary projects including "Bookstores: How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content" and "15 Minutes of Shame."

H. Maxwell Joseph was born on January 16, 1982, in New York City. He attended Brown University and developed an early interest in filmmaking, editing, documentary storytelling, and visual essays.

Before becoming a television personality, Joseph worked primarily behind the camera. He started as an editor before moving into directing, producing, and writing. That background later became important on "Catfish," where his job was not simply to appear on camera but also to help shape the show's visual and investigative tone.

Joseph became widely known in 2012 when "Catfish: The TV Show" premiered on MTV. The series was based on the 2010 documentary "Catfish," which followed Nev Schulman's own experience with a deceptive online relationship. In the television version, Schulman and Joseph traveled around the country helping people discover whether their online romantic partners were real.

Joseph's role was essential to the show's appeal. He operated as co-host, cameraman, sounding board, and voice of reason. His skepticism often kept the show grounded, especially when the stories became emotionally complicated. Fans responded to his dry humor, patience, and visible friendship with Schulman.

He remained on "Catfish" for seven seasons, becoming one of the faces of the series during its peak years. In 2018, he announced that he was leaving the show to focus on filmmaking. Kamie Crawford later became the show's full-time co-host alongside Schulman.

Joseph's biggest narrative filmmaking project was "We Are Your Friends," which he co-wrote and directed. Released in 2015, the film starred Zac Efron as an aspiring electronic dance music DJ in the San Fernando Valley. The cast also included Emily Ratajkowski, Wes Bentley, Jonny Weston, Shiloh Fernandez, and Jon Bernthal.

The film gave Joseph his first feature-directing credit and allowed him to move beyond reality television. Although "We Are Your Friends" was not a major box-office hit, it became an important career marker because it proved he could direct a polished studio feature with recognizable stars.

Joseph also directed "12 Years of DFA: Too Old to Be New, Too New to Be Classic," a documentary about the influential New York record label DFA Records. His other projects include branded films, short documentaries, commercials, and online visual essays.

Joseph has continued making documentaries and internet-native film projects. In 2019, he released "Bookstores: How to Read More Books in the Golden Age of Content," a documentary-style visual essay about reading habits, bookstores, and how people balance books with the endless stream of digital content.

In 2021, he directed "15 Minutes of Shame," an HBO Max documentary produced with Monica Lewinsky. The film examined public shaming, cyber-harassment, online outrage, and the human cost of becoming the subject of viral judgment. The project fit naturally with Joseph's broader interest in internet behavior, identity, reputation, and the way technology affects real life.

Joseph also maintains a YouTube channel where he posts filmmaking essays, personal projects, and short documentaries. His online work is less frequent than that of full-time YouTubers, but it has helped him maintain a direct audience outside traditional television.

Max Joseph is married to Priscila Joseph. He has lived in Los Angeles and has described himself as a filmmaker who shoots around the world. He also speaks Portuguese and is widely recognized for his prematurely gray hair, which became one of his visual trademarks during his years on "Catfish."

Joseph's career is unusual because he became famous in front of the camera almost by accident. He was a filmmaker first, then became a reality-TV personality through the success of "Catfish." That dual identity remains the key to his public image: part documentarian, part host, part internet-culture observer, and part filmmaker still trying to make thoughtful work about modern life.