Hechtman grew up in East Meadow, New York and graduated from East Meadow High School in 2015. He then began making short films, some of which have been screened at film festivals across the U.S., including the Chelsea Film Festival and the Long Island International Film Expo. He earned his bachelor of science degree in Film and Media in 2019 from the Fashion Institute of Technology and was awarded the Film and Media Department Medal two years before. Most of Hechtman's recent films deal with important and controversial social issues. These include climate change, sustainability, mental health, suicide, loss and the dangers of and obsession with social media and mobile technology, the last of which was highlighted in his first student film, I Am Here, which was directed by his mentor, Christonikos Tsalikis, in preparation for Hechtman's studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology. In 2016, Hechtman produced the documentary, FIT Hives: Sustainability - The Secret to Survival, as part of an Innovation Fund grant from the Clinton Global Initiative. The film, which was made to help educate the FIT community about the importance of bees to the environment, the use of bee-derived resources across the majors taught at the college, as well as the installation of two beehives on the roof, was awarded the Eco Sustainable Award by Fashion Film Festival Chicago in 2017. In 2018, Hechtman made Stories of Strength and Hope: Preventing Youth Suicide. The documentary was inspired by his seeing Dear Evan Hansen on Broadway and a Middle School assembly given by suicide/bullying prevention advocate John Halligan about his son, Ryan Halligan, who died by suicide in 2003, both of which increased Hechtman's awareness about the entertainment industry's portrayal of suicide and mental health. Featuring interviews with Halligan, psychiatrist Dr. Harold S. Koplewicz of the Child Mind Institute and Meryl Cassidy, Executive Director of the Suffolk County Response Crisis Center, the film covers the subject matter from the perspectives of the family, someone with a lived experience, clinician and the media. In 2019, Hechtman made his senior thesis film, Abigail, which he co-directed and co-produced with Tsalikis. The film, which stars well-known Film/TV actor Richie Allan, was inspired by a true story dealing with the subject matter of end-of-life decisions. The film was named a quarterfinalist in Stage 32's 5th Annual Short Film Contest and it is set for a festival run in 2020. Today, the filmmaker still resides in East Meadow and works as a video editor for Tsalikis' event/commercial video production company, Reel Life Cinematography. He is continuing to develop his own projects and work with other filmmakers and creatives on their films and other forms of video content.
