BU Alum Lands Most Adorable Gig in America

In 2006, Andrew Schechter graduated from Boston University College of Communications with a degree in Film and Television. Five years later, he is the referee for one of the most important games in America. He will resolve conflicts, call fouls, and resist the urge to take all of his tiny, adorable players home with him.

For the fourth consecutive year, the BU Alum is the referee and coordinating producer of Animal Planet’s Puppy Bowl, a yearly program that airs at the same time as the Super Bowl. In Puppy Bowl, the players are put on a miniature field and filmed as they romp, play, and do puppy things. And the program has been successful: last year, Puppy Bowl VI got 8.6 million unique viewers.

Schechter took time out of his busy pre-game week to talk to the Quad about his experiences at BU and his road to Puppy Bowl.

What did you have planned way back when, when you were at BU? What did you want to do in the future?

You know, at the time I wanted to so something similar to what most undergraduate film majors wanted to do, which was direct. I also had a strong interest in theater and acting. But what I realized later on is that, to me, it’s all about effective storytelling, which is essentially how I became interested in producing television, and telling the best story possible.

What were you involved with in BU?

I was an actor, and acted and directed in Stage Troupe. I was a Program Assistant for the Office of Orientation, I was a huge BU Terrier fan going to all of the hockey games, and I’d even make a sandwich or two at the BU Pub.

What did you do after you graduated, and how did that bring you to working with Animal Planet?

Well, first, going back to before I graduated… my senior year I did the BU in LA program, and through that program I got the hands-on real-world experience I needed to take the next level after I graduated. I don’t have that glamorous of a story except that I clicked submit at the right time for a production assistant job as Discovery Kids, which was Discovery’s old kids’ channel. Using my experience at the BU in LA program, I could provide writing samples and experience in my resume which, I think, eventually got me the job at Discovery Kids.

So from there, how did you get involved in working at the Puppy Bowl? How did you get from Discovery Kids to that?

From Discovery Kids I transitioned over to Animal Planet, and at the time I was working for an executive producer, and she was assigned to work on Puppy Bowl. At that time, it was Puppy Bowl IV. I was supporting the executive producer on the show and I kind of volunteered for the gig of referee. I’ve been doing that for four years now, and I’m also a coordinating producer of the show. To be helping around in front of the camera as well as being the camera is kind of an awesome experience.

When the Puppy Bowl’s not going on, what is it that you do?

I help oversee a lot of different shows, again, as a coordinating producer for Animal Planet, pretty much seeing a show through from conception to ultimately air. So that means helping develop the show, reading treatments and scripts, reviewing budgets, reacting to different cuts and versions of the program, and then making sure it successfully delivers (which means, literally, the tape has to deliver) and then ultimately air.

How many viewers do you guys usually get for Puppy Bowl?

It’s a pretty sweet little audience that we get for Puppy Bowl. It’s kind of become this pop culture phenomenon that just seems to grow every year. We’re just getting more proud of it.

And you ARE up against the Super Bowl.

Yes, we are the number one… I’d like to think, the “other big game” on Super Bowl Sunday. And it’s kind of become this fan-favorite, this kind of alternative. If you’re not interested in the other game, then it’s the perfect place to spend a few hours of your time on that day.

I know Super Bowl’s kind of famous for its commercials. Do you guys have special commercials that you air during Puppy Bowl, too?

Well, we don’t have any special commercials. But what we do is, every year we like to add new features to the game. We “up the ante” every year. We’re on Puppy Bowl VII now, so we had to blow it up even bigger than in past years. So for the first time ever, we have “chicks on the sideline”- that’s our chicken cheerleaders, rooting for the puppy players.

We also have a new piece of technology, the puppy-cam, which will give viewers a puppy point-of-view and make them feel like they are on the field. And we also have, which we’re excited about, the “kiss cam…” we have user-submitted videos of owners kissing their pets, pets kissing their owners, pets kissing other pets. We pretty much found the most precious moments.

So, the puppies themselves—are they all from shelters? How do they pick the puppies?

We work with petfinder.com. All the puppies are from shelters. It’s a fun show, it’s tongue-in-cheek and we have a great time making it. But the real message that we promote at Puppy Bowl is to raise awareness of adoption from shelters. All the animals featured are from shelters, and we’re proud to say that, well, we filmed this in October, and by the time this airs on Super Bowl Sunday, all of the animals have found loving homes.

That was going to be my next question: what happens to them.

That’s something we’re really proud of. If we can do our small part, it’s icing on the cake.

So, as a referee in this, what exactly do you do? Do you ham it up on screen, or is there any mediation to do?

Well, this is a very, very serious sport. It’s pretty much making sure I keep a clean field. In every sense of the word. That means puppy penalties when there’s any ruff-ruff-roughness, and un-puppylike conduct. But also, puppies are puppies of natural behaviors and there are sometimes fouls on the field, and I am the man to clean up their fouls.

Have you ever adopted a dog from the Puppy Bowl, or do you have a dog of your own?

You know, every year, it’s very tempting, I have to say. And the puppies we have this year are the cutest, most rambunctious group yet. But I don’t think a puppy would have a good time in my closet-sized New York apartment.

But you are a dog person?

Yeah, I love dogs, and to spend a day with 47 adoptable dogs is kind of like heaven.

So if you now were to tell BU student you that you have a job working with adorable puppies on-screen for money, what would past-you say?

Well, I’d be a little surprised, but for me in the past, it would definitely be something to look forward to. To be producing quality television, but television that has a message—that’s something that I find admirable and is something I’m proud of, that I hope we can continue to do.

Puppy Bowl VII airs this Sunday, Feb 6 at 3pm EST on Animal Planet.