The Lighthearted Way

Howard Schultz, Lighthearted Entertainment’s late founder, is remembered as one of the most influential and visionary producers in reality television.

Howard began his prolific television career at WLS-TV in Chicago, where he won two Emmy’s in his first two years at the station for day time and night time talk show formats. From this auspicious beginning, he moved to California and developed “Real People” for NBC – a forerunner of the primetime doc-reality show that ran for 5 seasons. In 1991, Howard joined Fox Television, where he developed and served as the Executive Producer of the breakthrough syndication hit “Studs,” a show which gave birth to the “relationship” genre of reality television.

Howard founded the Lighthearted banner in 1992, where he spent over 20 years creating and producing both American and international formats including as ABC’s “Extreme Makeover,” MTV’s “Next!” and “Are You The One?,” Fox’s The Moment of Truth,” USA’s “The Big Date” and “Happy Hour,” and VH1’s “Dating Naked.”

Beyond his incredible TV acumen, Howard was faithfully devoted to philanthropic efforts and giving back to the communities to which he belonged. The Lighthearted family is committed to carrying on Howard’s legacy of altruism through partnerships with charitable organizations.

Partner organizations: