• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 7, 2007

After 18 months of incubation, Hollywood hit-maker Albie Hecht and his digital production studio Worldwide Biggies are ready for a big year. Hecht, former president of Nickelodeon's film studio and Spike TV, just secured $9 million in funding from top investors including NBC Universal, which also agreed to a first-look distribution deal.

Meanwhile, BermanBraun, the six-month-old venture from former Paramount Pictures president Gail Berman and former Yahoo Media Group head Lloyd Braun (both are also former network TV programming executives), named Geraldine Martin-Coppola as head of interactive. She was formerly director of strategy at Yahoo Media Group. BermanBraun, which boasts its own multi-platform strategic alliance with NBC Universal Television, recently signed an agreement giving Pepsi a first-look to support and sponsor original entertainment content that BermanBraun develops for online platforms. Other heavyweight investors in Worldwide Biggies include Hearst Corp., Alan Patricof's Greycroft LLC, Platform Equity and Prism VentureWorks.

Recent advances in Web infrastructure--particularly consumers' access to faster connections--along with scalable, user-friendly platforms like YouTube have made the Internet fertile ground for video programming, said Hecht.

"It's taken awhile for all the conditions to be right, but we think it's time for the third wave online, and that's content," he explained. "The same excitement I had for animation in the '90s, I have now for online, and its potential to shape content in a completely new way."

As the new favorite pastime of Hollywood moguls, digital studios are emerging left and right to fill the Web's ginormous demand for original video that viewers just have to tell their friends about.

Ex-Disney head Michael Eisner arguably started the trend with his Vuguru production firm, which officially launched in March and financed the Web series "Prom Queen."

With backing from Silicon Valley VC giant Sequoia Capital, FunnyOrDie.com was started this year by the comic actor Will Ferrell and his production partner, Adam McKay.

Last month, United Talent Agency and Spot Runner--a digital agency partly owned by WPP Group--opened 60Frames Entertainment, a studio for digital entertainment from established actors and directors.

And just last week, former MTV and CBS Radio executive Rob Barnett debuted a network named My Damn Channel, which has already signed a distribution deal with YouTube. The site is backed by Okapi Venture Capital, and includes the work of comedian Harry Shearer, filmmaker David Wain and music producer Don Was.

With Worldwide Biggies, Hecht has his eye on two demographics--families and young adults--with whom he's successfully engaged in the past. At Nickelodeon Entertainment, he oversaw the development and production of "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Dora the Explorer" and other hits, while at Spike TV, MTV Networks' channel for guys, he was responsible the "the Joe Schmo Show" and bringing in the Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise.

Later this week, Hecht plans to unveil one of Worldwide's first projects for the prized 18- to-35-year-old demo. Developed in partnership with AOL's celebrity gossip site TMZ.com, "StarvStar.com" will engage users with a fantasy sport where the name of the game is celebrity scandal, popularity, and drama. As such, players will select a team of celebs, then earn points when their picks make headlines.

Rather than latching on to one particular revenue model, Hecht has explored a number of strategies since leaving Spike to launch Worldwide late in 2005.

"We're investing in product integration, in-game advertising, straight CPM deals, content licensing, rev-share and subscription deals," he said. "We want to play in many different arenas. The only constant at this point is that there are not enough places for advertisers to move online."