Nicely Entertainment appoints David Hickey as Head of Production

Los Angeles-based independent production and distribution company Nicely Entertainment, which has released a slate of over 50 movies since launching three years ago, has established a mini-studio operation in Phoenix, Arizona. Veteran creative executive David Hickey has been appointed as Head of Production to oversee operations. In this new role, Hickey will oversee all film productions for the company, including this year’s first movie on the studio’s production slate, “Mysteries of the Heart,” written by and starring Ansley Gordon, to be shot in Arizona.

Hickey is a creative executive producer with 25 years of entertainment success and over 90 credits in development and production. During his six-year tenure at Canada’s Reel One Entertainment, where he most recently served as Creative Executive Producer, he led more than 70 movies from original story conceptualization to development and production, all licensed to various US buyers including A&E/Lifetime, TF1, UPTV, Hallmark, and Netflix, and major international partners such as TF1 (France), Channel5 (UK), Mediaset (Italy), and Antena3 (Spain). For the past year, he has overseen production on five A&E output movies for Lance Entertainment and Reel One Entertainment as acting production executive, including “Crazy Neighbourhood Moms,” “Here Kills the Bride” and “A Baby at Any Cost.”

“In addition to our distribution operations in Los Angeles and Paris, we are focused in 2023 in building a preeminent mini-studio in Arizona, with a goal of shooting approximately four movies per year there. With more than 50 movies released over just three years, we are excited to expand our operations and welcome a creative executive of David’s calibre to head our content production slate. We anticipate this year to be a huge milestone in Nicely Entertainment’s growth, both in the number of productions on our roster and our global distribution footprint,”  said Vanessa Shapiro, CEO of Nicely Entertainment.

“I have been observing the growth of Nicely Entertainment over the past couple of years and am impressed by the quality and volume of projects that the company has produced with Vanessa at the helm. With its diverse range of projects, from romcoms to thrillers and teen dramas, and more TV series in the pipeline, I am so excited to work with Vanessa and her team to help build the company into a mini-studio powerhouse,”  Hickey commented.