Albie Hecht

Albie Hecht is a film and television producer and media executive. In 1997, Hecht was the president of film and TV entertainment for Nickelodeon[1] before becoming president of the television channel Spike TV in 2003.[2] In 2005, he founded and was CEO of the digital studio Worldwide Biggies.[3][4] From 2013 to 2015, he also served as general manager of the TV channel, HLN,[5] and currently serves as chief content officer of PocketWatch.

Albie Hecht
NationalityAmerican
OccupationTV and Film Producer, Entertainment Executive
EmployerSelf-Employed
Known forTelevision industry
Notable work
TelevisionNickelodeon, Spike TV, HLN
Spouse(s)Susan MacLaury
Children1

Biography

Born to a Jewish family,[6] Hecht graduated from Francis Lewis High School in Queens, New York City[7] where he played varsity basketball and baseball and was President of the Student Organization.[8] He was Director of Artist Relations at Terry Cashman's and Tommy West's Lifesong Records in the 1970s,[9] where he oversaw the career of Crack the Sky and then became manager to pop star Dean Friedman. In 1988, he ran productions for the advertising agency Fred/Alan Inc with Alan Goodman and Fred Seibert.[10] Together, they established Chauncey Street Productions for their independent television productions.[10] Through Chauncey Street, Hecht co-created and executive produced Kids Court and GUTS[11] for Nickelodeon, the Ace Award winning game show Turn it Up! for MTV and The Talent Pool for Comedy Central, which featured the TV debut of John Leguizamo.

At Nickelodeon, Hecht oversaw the development and production of SpongeBob SquarePants, Dora the Explorer, Blue's Clues,[3] and such live-action shows as All That, Kenan and Kel[12] and The Naked Brothers Band.[13] He also co-created and executive produced the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards,[14] and built the Nick Digital Studio in New York and the Nick animation studio in Los Angeles.

In movies, Hecht produced films for Paramount including Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.[15] The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, The Rugrats in Paris Movie and the Oscar nominated[16] animated feature Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius.[15]

At Spike TV, his shows included The Joe Schmo Show, MXC and signing the Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise.[17]

In 2005, Hecht co-founded Shine Global with his wife Susan MacLaury,[18] Shine Global is a nonprofit media company that gives voice to children and their families by telling stories of resilience to raise awareness, promote action, inspire change. Through Shine, Hecht produced the Oscar winning[19] short documentary Inocente and the Emmy winning[20] and  Oscar nominated documentary feature War/Dance.[21]

In 2017, Hecht joined Pocket.watch as Chief Content Officer.[22] Pocket.watch is a new studio creating global franchises from the Youtube stars characters loved by generation alpha. Hecht is the creator and Executive Producer of Ryan's Mystery Playdate on Nick Jr.,[23] the number one preschool show on TV.[24] He also produced the HobbyKids Adventures, an animated series which streams on the Hobby Kids TV Youtube channel. The show has received over 30 million views on its episodes to date.[25]

References
  1. "Albie Hecht Named Head of HLN". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  2. "Albie Hecht Resigns as Spike TV President | TVWeek". Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  3. Molloy, Tim (2013-09-18). "Spike TV Founder Albie Hecht Named Head of HLN". TheWrap. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  4. Hayes, Dade (2008-11-26). "Albie Hecht keeps an eye on web". Variety. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  5. Steinberg, Brian (2015-11-24). "HLN Chief Albie Hecht Exits in Wake of Programming Shift (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  6. Judaism in Rugrats. p. 11. Nickelodeoan's then president, Albie Hacht, himself Jewish, professed himself dumbfounded by the criticism, calling it absurd.
  7. Hayes, Dade (Dec 1 2008). "Can TV titan work wonders on Web? Hecht, yeah". Variety (Los Angeles, California). Vol. 413. Iss. 3. p. 26.
  8. "Francis Lewis High School yearbooks". francislewishighschool.net. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
  9. Alleyne, P. Llanor (Mar 16, 2018). "Kid From Queens Counts on NYC Energy". Broadcastingcable. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  10. "Fred/Alan Inc".
  11. Sentinel, Catherine Hinman, Orlando. "NICKELODEON'S 'GUTS' WINS OVER THE WORLD". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  12. Karan, Tim. "Kenan Thompson developing kids' sketch comedy show". Looper.com. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  13. Haugsted, By Linda. "Cox Backs 'Naked' Band". Multichannel. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  14. Owen, Rob (2019-03-20). "Nickelodeon at 40: Breaking Down the Big Hits From 'Dora' to 'SpongeBob'". Variety. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  15. Dade Hayes (2008-11-26). "Albie Hecht keeps an eye on web". Variety. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  16. Feldman, Brian (2016-02-26). "Was 2001 the Most Important Year in Film-Meme History?". NYmag. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  17. Ball, Ryan (2005-01-31). "Albie Hecht Leaves Spike TV". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  18. Facebook; Twitter; YouTube; Instagram; Flickr. "THE WRONG LIGHT: Who Is Mickey? | Montclair Film". montclairfilm.org. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  19. "MacLaury's Inocente Wins the Academy Award". www.cnjscl.org. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  20. "NOMINEES FOR THE 31st ANNUAL NEWS & DOCUMENTARY EMMY® AWARDS ANNOUNCED BY THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS & SCIENCES, FREDERICK WISEMAN TO RECEIVE LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | The Emmy Awards - The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  21. "War Documentaries: Old Oscar Statuette Returned to Army + Two Acclaimed Takes on Iraq Conflagration – Alt Film Guide". Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  22. Calvario, Liz (March 22, 2017). "Chris Williams, Albie Hecht & Jon Moonves Announce Pocketwatch, New Media Brand Catered To Kids". Deadline. Retrieved September 13, 2019.
  23. "Nickelodeon Unveils Ryan's Mystery Playdate, Brand-New Preschool Series Starring YouTube Superstar Ryan of Ryan ToysReview". www.businesswire.com. 2019-02-14. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  24. Farrell, Mike. "TIS 2019: Bakish Mends Fences With Small Cable". Multichannel. Retrieved 2019-09-13.
  25. "HobbyKidsTV". YouTube. Retrieved 2019-09-16.
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