Jeff Wachtel

Jeff Wachtel is a veteran television executive and producer. He is the co-founder and CEO of Future Shack Entertainment. Among FSE’s recent credits are the Fox TV series Murder In A Small Town and the CW/Roku series Good Cop, Bad Cop.

Most recently, Wachtel was the President of NBCUniversal International Studios, overseeing a portfolio of production companies including Carnival Films, Working Title Television, Heyday Television, Matchbox Pictures and unscripted production company, Monkey Kingdom.

Prior to his move to London, Wachtel was the Chief Content Officer for NBCU Cable Entertainment, overseeing all content for NBCU’s cable networks USA, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen, and E!, as well as serving as President of its cable studio Universal Content Productions.

Wachtel joined USA in 2001 as Executive Vice President, Original Programming. At USA, Wachtel helped establish the USA brand and led the network’s transformation into the #1 cable network on the strength of its original programming. Among the many successful series produced under his leadership are Mr. Robot, Suits and The Sinner for USA, Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce for Bravo, The Magicians and 12 Monkeys at Syfy, and Difficult People for Hulu. Additional series launched under Wachtel’s supervision include Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Covert Affairs, In Plain Sight, White Collar, Royal Pains, The Dead Zone and The 4400.
Before USA, Wachtel served as President of Alliance Atlantis Television, supervising all series and longform programming for the Canadian program supplier. In 1997, he was the Executive Producer of the first-run syndicated series "Pensacola: Wings of Gold." Wachtel created the show while President of 3 Arts Television, a production company that partnered CBS, Sony and 3 Arts Management.

From 1990 to 1996, Wachtel was at Columbia Pictures Television, where he rose to Executive Vice President of Primetime Television, developing and launching successful series including Party of Five and Dawson’s Creek. Before arriving at Columbia Pictures Television, Wachtel was Senior Vice President, Development movies at Orion Television and Vice President, Development at Robert Cooper Productions.

Wachtel began his career as a theatre director and producer. He produced the first New York productions of David Mamet’s works, Sexual Perversity In Chicago and The Duck Variations.

A graduate of Yale University, Wachtel is a founding member of L.A. Works, a community-based volunteer organization, as well as a board member of the Zimmer Children’s Museum and the HRTS.
He currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, Sheryl, and has two children, Emily and Jesse.