Electus

Electus was a production company founded by Ben Silverman in 2009. It was financed by IAC. The company had development deals with NBC, ABC, MTV, VH1, Facebook, Yahoo!, and AOL. In 2018, IAC sold Electus to Propagate Content.

This article is about the American production company. For the Australian electronics wholesaler Electus Distribution, see Jaycar.
Electus
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryTelevision production
Distribution
Licensing
Multimedia
Founded2009 (2009)
HeadquartersLos Angeles, California, United States
Key people
Chris Grant
(CEO)
Drew Buckley
(Co-Founder, COO & Head of Digital)
John Pollak
(President of Electus International)
Max Levenson
(VP, Current & Creative Development)
Stephanie Ward
(Director, Business and Legal Affairs)
Max Richards
(Executive Producer)
Cyrus Farrokh
(Executive Producer)
ProductsTelevision
OwnerPropagate Content
DivisionsElectus International
Websitewww.electus.com

History and partners

Electus was founded by Ben Silverman, former co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and chief executive officer of Reveille, and financed by Barry Diller’s IAC in 2009.[1][2] As part of its inception, IAC partnered Electus with CollegeHumor, the comedy portal that had developed series both on the web and TV.[3]

In January 2010, Electus partnered with Jason Bateman and Will Arnett to launch a sponsor-driven advertising and digital production company, DumbDumb, which launched branded campaigns including one for Orbit Gum,[4] and an online talk show on behalf of Denny's called "Always Open".[5]

In August 2010, Electus announced a production and distribution deal with 5x5 Media, headed by Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk, and Tod Mesirow, whose combined producer credits include Survivor, Amazing Race, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution and many more.[6]

In January 2011, Electus acquired Engine Entertainment and formed a new in-house global distribution arm, Electus/Engine Distribution.[7] The new division handled in-house and third-party projects for distribution globally, including a partnership with Abbot Reif Hameiri Production Company, a leading production company in Israel.[8]

In January 2011, Electus partnered with former MTV President of programming Tony DiSanto and head of series development Liz Gateley, to form an independent, multi-media production company, DiGa. DiGa was to focus on producing reality and scripted series for primetime cable and network outlets.[9]

In June 2012, Electus partnered with YouTube to launch the YouTube food channel HUNGRY[10] with Celebrity chefs Duff Goldman and Laura Vitale.

In 2013, Electus took over College Humor/Dorkly and created Big Breakfast, the studio behind Adam Ruins Everything (TruTV), Middle of the Night Show (MTV), Fatal Decisions (Go90), Bad Internet (YouTube Red), Comedy Music Awards (IFC) and Hot Date (Pop).[11]

In 2018, IAC sold Electus to Propagate Content.[12]

Projects

Electus projects included:

References
  1. Littleton, Cynthia (2016-02-03). "Electus Launches Jackknife Media with 'Bear Grylls' Producer (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  2. Paul Thomasch. "NBC executive Silverman exits for IAC venture," Reuters, July 27, 2009.
  3. Stuart Levine. "Ben Silverman's Electus to Take Over CollegeHumor" Variety, Nov 5, 2009.
  4. David Kaplan. "IAC's Electus Rolls Out 'Dirty Shorts' Branded Campaign," PaidContent.org, June 11, 2010.
  5. Andrew Hammp. "Denny's and DumbDumb Introduce Online Talk Show," Ad Age, March 6, 2011.
  6. Stuart Levine. "Electus Gets Distrib Rights in 5x5 Deal" Variety, Aug 9, 2010.
  7. Gavin O'Malley. "IAC's Electus Acquires Engine Entertainment, Forms Global Distribution Arm" Archived 2011-01-21 at the Wayback Machine MediaPost, Jan 18, 2011.
  8. Wrap Staff. "Ben Silverman's Back in Business with Shine" The Wrap, Feb 2, 2010.
  9. Nellie Andreeva. "Former MTV Execs Tony DiSanto & Liz Gateley Unveil New Company, First Slate" Archived 2011-05-29 at the Wayback Machine Deadline.com, Jan 24, 2011.
  10. Huffington Post - YouTube HUNGRY Channel
  11. "IAC Merges CollegeHumor With Electus". TheWrap. 2014-01-27. Retrieved 2017-04-27.
  12. Littleton, Cynthia (2018-10-30). "Ben Silverman's Propagate Acquires Electus and Majority Stake in Artists First". Variety. Retrieved 2019-03-13.
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