Albie Hecht is an American film and television producer and media executive. In 1997, Hecht was the president of film and TV entertainment for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

before becoming president of the television channel

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...

in 2003. In 2005, he founded and was CEO of the digital studio Worldwide Biggies. From 2013 to 2015, he also served as general manager of the TV channel, HLN, and is chief content officer of PocketWatch.

Early life and career

Albie Hecht graduated from

Francis Lewis High School Francis Lewis High School (FLHS) is a selective public high school located in Fresh Meadows, in the New York City borough of Queens. It is one of the most-applied-to public high schools in New York City with 9,468 applicants in 2016. Operated b ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

where he played varsity basketball and baseball and was President of the Student Organization. He was the only undergraduate ever awarded a Media Studies degree by

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

’s Columbia College. Hecht was Director of Artist Relations at

Terry Cashman Terry Cashman (born Dennis Minogue; July 5, 1941) is an American record producer and singer-songwriter, best known for his 1981 hit, " Talkin' Baseball". While the song is well recognized today and allowed Cashman the chance to meet the feature ...

and Tommy West's Lifesong Records in the 1970s, where he oversaw the career of Crack the Sky and then became manager to pop star

Dean Friedman Dean Friedman (born May 23, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter who plays piano, keyboard, guitar, and harmonica. Although considered a one-hit wonder in the US, he has had multiple singles chart in other territories and continues to write, ...

Television

In the mid-1980s, Hecht produced for the advertising agency Fred/Alan Inc with

Alan Goodman Alan Eliot Goodman is an American actor and media marketer. He is one of the founders of TESTD Inc, a health and data management products company. He was formerly a television writer and producer who has worked in media since 1981. Early life an ...

and

Fred Seibert Frederick G. Seibert is an American television producer and media proprietor. Seibert began his professional career as a jazz and blues record producer and audio engineer in the 1970s. He co-founded the record label Oblivion Records by 1972 an ...

. Together, they established Chauncey Street Productions for their independent television productions. Through Chauncey Street, Hecht co-created and executive produced '' Kids Court'' and '' GUTS'' for

, the Ace Award winning game show '' Turn it Up!'' for

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

and ''The Talent Pool'' for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

, which featured the TV debut of

John Leguizamo John Alberto Leguizamo Peláez (, ; ; born July 22, 1960 or 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and film producer. He has appeared in more than 100 films, produced more than 20 films and documentaries, made more than 30 televisio ...

. At Nickelodeon, Hecht oversaw the development and approval of all the network's films and TV shows from 1997 to 2003, including ''

SpongeBob SquarePants ''SpongeBob SquarePants'' is an American animated television series, animated comedy television series created by marine science educator and animator Stephen Hillenburg for Nickelodeon. It first aired as a sneak peek after the 1999 Kids' C ...

'', '' Dora the Explorer'', ''

Blue's Clues ''Blue's Clues'' is an American interactive educational television, educational children's television series created by Traci Paige Johnson, Todd Kessler, and Angela Santomero, Angela C. Santomero. It premiered on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. block ...

'', and such live-action shows as '' All That.'' He also co-created and executive produced the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, and built the Nick Digital Studio in New York City and the Nick animation studio in Los Angeles. When establishing his independent production company Worldwide Biggies, Hecht developed and executive produced ''The Naked Brothers Band'' (2007-09). When Hecht became the president of the TV channel TNN, he revised the network's title to Spike TV, where his shows included ''

The Joe Schmo Show ''The Joe Schmo Show'' is an American Reality television#Parodies and hoaxes, reality television hoax show created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The series was originally broadcast in the United States on the Cable television, cable network ...

'', ''MXC'' and signing the ''

Ultimate Fighting Championship The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promoter (entertainment), promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by TKO Group Holdings, a majority owned subsidiary of Endeavor ( ...

'' franchise. In 2017, Hecht joined Pocket.watch as chief content officer. Pocket.watch is a studio that creates franchises from the YouTube stars and characters. Hecht is the creator and Executive Producer of ''

Ryan's Mystery Playdate ''Ryan's Mystery Playdate'' is an American children's television series created by Albie Hecht and produced by the company PocketWatch that aired on Nickelodeon from April 19, 2019 to April 16, 2023. The series is based on the Ryan's World You ...

'' on the

Nick Jr. Channel The Nick Jr. Channel, sometimes shortened to Nick Jr., is an American pay television, pay television channel owned by the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. An offshoot of Nickelodeon ...

, the number one preschool show on TV which garnered a Daytime Emmy Award Nomination in 2020. 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 of its episodes to date. As of 2022, Hecht is the chief content officer of pocket.watch that creates content for kids and family YouTube creators, resulting in more than 300 hours of programming produced to date. Currently, Hecht is overseeing the production of a series of 50 animated and live-action series and 5 specials, such as Toys and Colors and Dan Rhodes. Additionally, he is directing and producing ''Ryan's World: the Movie'' the first feature film for the YouTube star Ryan, set to be released in Fall 2024. In his role as Creator and Executive Producer at pocket.watch, Hecht created and produced ''Love, Diana'' with over 1 billion views and Onyx Family Dinner, which was nominated for a MIPCOM CANNES Diversify TV Award for its contributions to representation in Kids Programming.

Movies

In movies, Hecht produced films for

Paramount Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. **Paramount Picture ...

including '' Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events''. ''

The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie ''The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie'' is a 2004 American adventure comedy film, animated adventure comedy film based on the television series ''SpongeBob SquarePants''. It was co-written, co-produced, and directed by series creator Stephen Hill ...

'', '' The Rugrats Movie'' and the

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People and fictional and mythical characters * Oscar (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters named Oscar, Óscar or Oskar * Oscar (footballer, born 1954), Brazilian footballer ...

-nominated animated feature '' Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius''. ''The Rugrats Movie'' was the first non-Disney animated feature to hit $100 million at the US domestic box office.

Non-profit media

In 2005, Hecht co-founded the nonprofit media company Shine Global with his wife Susan MacLaury, Through Shine, Hecht produced the

winning short documentary '' Inocente'', and the

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

and

nominated documentary feature ''

War/Dance ''War/Dance'' is a 2007 American documentary film written and directed by Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine, and produced by Shine Global's Susan MacLaury, a professor at Kean University, and Albie Hecht. It was nominated for the 2008 Academy ...

''.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hecht, Albie Living people American chief executives American Jews Nickelodeon executives Film producers from New York City Year of birth missing (living people) Francis Lewis High School alumni