Albie Hecht’s Worldwide Biggies Targets Multiplatform Content Creation

NEW YORK, October 23: Last November, former Nickelodeon
chief and Spike TV founder Albie Hecht launched Worldwide Biggies, a production
outfit targeted to creating multiplatform content for the family and kids’
markets. As the company gears up for the launch of its new Nickelodeon show, The
Naked Brothers Band, Hecht tells
World Screen Newsflash about the plans
ahead.

WS: What led you to
form Worldwide Biggies?

HECHT: I formed
Worldwide Biggies because I believe that the time is right for a content
company that really develops and produces content with multiplatform criteria
from its very beginning. We try to bring together multiplatform creatives in an
environment where they can flourish. And I don’t just mean a physical space.
This is a virtual world we can draw from—Ukraine, India and Ireland and
Spain and all these places where creativity is flourishing.

WS: Can you give me
some examples of how you’re building multiplatform elements directly into your
projects?

HECHT: We have a
production deal for kids’ programming with Nickelodeon. We’re doing a
13-episode music-based series called The Naked Brothers Band.
It’s kind of Spinal Tap for kids. We’re
also in production at our broadband division on webisodes, podcasts and broadband
games, and a music studio online component. It’s already embedded in the
franchise.

On the film side we’re producing a movie called Planet
One with Ilion Studios in Spain. It’s being
written by Joe Stillman, who wrote Shrek. It’s a reverse alien movie, about an alien planet that is terrified
of a human invasion. Ilion has a video game studio called Pyro and a mobile
company. So while we’re developing the movie, we’re developing the game and
mobile content as well.

In all of these, we look at what I call the six behaviors of
user engagement. We start with the watch experience, that’s our whole linear
watching experience. On the other side of the spectrum is the creative,
user-generated experience. In between there’s the learning, collecting, connecting
and play experience. When we look at a property or think of an idea, we say,
how many of those does it touch? If it’s six out of six, we think we’ve got a
home run, four out of six we’ll still develop it. When we hit the three, we
shake our heads a little. If it’s two or one, it’s too old school, old media,
no can do.

It’s great that there are all these distribution platforms.
But when somebody says they’re digital because they’ve got something on
podcast, to me that’s just distribution. Is there something in that podcast
that really makes it a digital experience? We’re really in the business of
looking for the next great entertainment experience.

WS: How has the
transition been for you, from heading up Nickelodeon to now running your own
independent?

HECHT: When I yell
down the hallway for someone to make a copy of something, I then get up and go
make my copy! I’m wearing a lot of hats, which is a good thing. I was an
entrepreneur before—the first corporate job I had was with Viacom, so
going back doesn’t feel that unfamiliar.

WS: What are your
plans for the international market?

HECHT: At the moment
I’m mostly focused on the domestic market. Our non-profit company, Shine
Global, whose mission is to end the exploitation of children through the creation
of documentary films [has a more global focus.] We’re making our first feature
documentary, War Dance, about the children in northern Uganda. It
tells the story of three kids that go on a journey to compete in a music and
dance festival.

WS: Your tenure at
Nickelodeon saw the launch of some of the network’s biggest hits, including SpongeBob
SquarePants and Blue’s Clues.
What do you look for in a new property?

HECHT: If something
I look at makes me laugh right away, you’ve got a really good shot at making
other people laugh. That part of my gut works really well. And I do feel like
I’ve been able to identify things that people are going to respond to. We knew SpongeBob
would be funny, we knew it would affect people. We knew that Dora would be innovative and would be something that
parents would want to see and kids would enjoy. When you can find something
that makes an emotional connection, then people want to take it home with them,
and if they want to take it home with them, they’re going to take it home in a
toy or in a game or a book or a video. That’s what I look for.

WS: What else are
you working on at the company?

HECHT: We’re in the
process of opening a broadband studio and our vision for it is to be to the
broadband experience what Pixar was to animation.