All About Albie Hecht: Montclair Resident and Media Revolutionary

Remember a little TV series called Lost? Montclair resident Albie Hecht does and he refers to it when asked about his own show Bar Karma that—like Lost—has huge audiences dissecting every single little plot twist.

Bar Karma is a half-hour drama—combining elements of Cheers and the Twilight Zone—that premiered on Feb. 11 at 10 p.m. on Current TV, according to Hecht.

"It takes place in a time-traveling bar and each week a patron is involved in a life-changing decision," he said.

But what makes the series completely unique is the fact that Bar Karma—the plot, the people, the production—are the brainchild of the online community. This community, working within certain parameters, decide what the characters will or won't do and how the plot will or won't progress.

"I think it's been a terrific experiment in terror as I usually have had one studio executive and now I have thousands on the Web," Hecht said. "It's also been quite a rewarding collaboration because what the audience wants is always very revealing."

Bar Karma stars William Sanderson as James, the 20,000-year-old bartender, Matthew Humphreys as bar owner Doug Jones, and Cassie Howarth as the waitress Dayna. The series grapples with the timeless question: “What would happen if you could change your fate?”

Hecht, working with video game designer Will Wright, the creator of “SimCity” and “The Sims,” said the current 12-episode series will end April 29—"the same day as the royal wedding"—but that he's already asked the online community for ideas to launch a season two.

"It's almost like an online game. We tell people when something works and when it doesn't," he said. "The community has been a lot more active than we expected it would be."

Hecht said that, on any given day, the Bar Karma site generates 125,000 to 150,000 visits.

"I hope the show will keep going although you never know where the TV gods will take you but I think it's been very successful so far," he said.

And if anyone knows success, it's Hecht. Indeed, living with his wife Susan MacLaury on Midland Avenue, Hecht has become one of the most influential names in the entertainment industry.

In publication after publication, writers have hailed Hecht's history, saying he once had one of the best jobs in television as president of Viacom's Nickelodeon, launching hit kids shows like Blue's Clues, Dora The Explorer, and SpongeBob SquarePants.

But he switched gears in 2005, quitting Viacom and founding Worldwide Biggies with an eye towards creating entertainment for the Internet rather than for television.

"It's the right time for [Bar Karma and similar projects] ... people are giving up their TV sets and cable and they are watching and doing everything online," he said, adding that "even the writers of Lost admitted they took some ideas from viewers passed around online."

The Worldwide Biggies digital entertainment studio also is behind the incredibly popular, multi-platform phenomenon The Naked Brothers Band. In addition, in September 2010, Hecht won two Emmys for his documentary War Dance.

Hecht said that Current TV is the perfect home for Bar Karma.

"Current has a heritage of user-generated content," he said, calling Current "the pre-YouTube channel where people could submit citizen journalism items."

When asked about Montclair, he said he loves living here for many reasons.

"I love the fact that on a wintry day my street looks like something out of 1898," he said. "I also love the fact that I can go to an art house on a Friday night and see a movie I can't even see in Manhattan.

"And I can watch the Fourth of July parade from my front yard," he said.

Hecht said Montclair is more like a small town than suburbia.

"The core of it is that the poeple are quite extraordinary," he said. "There is a real mix of eclectic and stimulating people."

Hecht and his wife run a nonprofit called Shine Global that is dedicated to ending the abuse and exploitation of children worldwide through films that "raise awareness, promote action, and inspire political change."

Coming out this summer is a film called "The Harvest/La Cosecha" about migrant workers with Eva Longoria as executive producer.

"Shine Global is a very important project," Hecht said. "We try to move people to social action."

For more information on Shine Global, go here. To check out Bar Karma, go here. “Hack Job”, episode 8 of Current TV’s Bar Karma, the world’s first community-developed television series will air on Friday, April 1 at 10 p.m. ET/9 p.m. Central. When Doug tries to stop a hacker from releasing a virus to destroy the Internet, Dayna must take the biggest risk of all… leaving the bar to save him.