Nico is the son of
art director Steven Heller and graphic designer
Louise Fili. He grew up in New York City and attended the
Little Red School House and Elisabeth Irwin High School. He obtained a degree in film from
Emerson College and has gone on to create
music videos,
commercials, documentaries, and more under his
production company, Heller Films. He first garnered attention for finding and recording offbeat New Yorkers. Heller Films' ordinary operation was put on pause during the
COVID-19 pandemic, and subsequent lockdown in New York City. During this time, Heller held a contest for
Best New York Accent. New Yorkers in quarantine sent him video clips of their accents. The resulting videos went viral, and the project was picked up by mainstream media including
The New York Times and
CNN. In 2024 Heller released ''New York Nico's Guide to NYC'' (HarperCollins, ), an illustrated
guidebook to New York City. == Personal life ==