Electus was a production company founded by Ben Silverman in 2009. It was financed by IAC. The company had development deals with

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

, ABC,

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

Yahoo! Yahoo (, styled yahoo''!'' in its logo) is an American web portal that provides the search engine Yahoo Search and related services including My Yahoo, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo News, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, y!entertainment, yahoo!life, and its a ...

, and AOL. In 2018, IAC sold Electus to Propagate Content.

History and partners

Electus was founded by Ben Silverman, former co-chairman of

NBC Entertainment NBCUniversal Media Group is the television and streaming arm of NBCUniversal, and the direct descendant and successor of the former division NBCUniversal Television Group, which existed from 2004–19. History NBC Broadcasting In 2006, NBCUniver ...

and chief executive officer of

Reveille "Reveille" ( , ), called in French "Le Réveil" is a bugle call, trumpet call, drum, fife-and-drum or pipes call most often associated with the military; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise. The name comes from (or ), the ...

, and financed by

Barry Diller Barry Charles Diller (born February 2, 1942) is an American billionaire businessman. He is chairman and senior executive of IAC and Expedia Group and founded the Fox Broadcasting Company with Rupert Murdoch and USA Broadcasting. Diller was ind ...

’s IAC in 2009. As part of its inception, IAC partnered Electus with

CollegeHumor Dropout, incorporated as CH Media and formerly known as CollegeHumor, is an Internet comedy company based in Los Angeles that produces content for release on its streaming service Dropout (streaming platform), Dropout as well as YouTube. Dropou ...

, the comedy portal that had developed series both on the web and TV. In January 2010, Electus partnered with

Jason Bateman Jason Kent Bateman (born January 14, 1969) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Michael Bluth in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox / Netflix sitcom ''Arrested Development'' (2003–2019) and Marty Byrde in the Netflix crime drama s ...

and

Will Arnett William Emerson Arnett (; born May 4, 1970) is a Canadian and American actor and comedian. He is widely known for his roles as Gob Bluth in the Fox/Netflix sitcom '' Arrested Development'' (2003–2006, 2013, 2018–2019) and the titular ch ...

to launch a sponsor-driven advertising and digital production company, DumbDumb, which launched branded campaigns including one for Orbit Gum, and an online talk show on behalf of Denny's called "Always Open". 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 Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'', '' Amazing Race'', '' Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'', '' Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution'' and many more. In January 2011, Electus acquired Engine Entertainment and formed a new in-house global distribution arm, Electus/Engine Distribution. 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. In January 2011, Electus partnered with former MTV President of programming

Tony DiSanto Tony DiSanto is CEO of the Allyance Media Group, which he founded in 2018 with financier Matthew Bruderman. He also serves as President and Head of Content for DIGA Studios, which he founded with Liz Gateley in 2011. DIGA, a studio and production ...

and head of series development

Liz Gateley Liz Gateley is an American television producer. She currently serves as head of programming at Lifetime Television. She is also a founding partner and co-owner, along with Tony DiSanto, of DiGa, a studio and production company hybrid. In what G ...

, 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. In June 2012, Electus partnered with YouTube to launch the YouTube food channel HUNGRY 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 ''Bad Internet'' is an American series that premiered on May 25, 2016, on YouTube Premium (then known as YouTube Red). It is produced by CollegeHumor's Los Angeles-based production studio Big Breakfast. The first season contains ten episodes, wit ...

(YouTube Red), Comedy Music Awards (IFC) and Hot Date (Pop). In 2018, IAC sold Electus to Propagate Content.

Projects

Electus projects included: * '' The Toy Box'' (2017; Co-produced with

Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational corporation, multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company headquartered in El Segundo, California. Founded in Los Angeles by Harold Matson and the husband-and-wife duo of Ruth Handler, ...

) * '' No Tomorrow'' (2016–17; Co-produced with Warner Bros. Television) * '' Running Wild with Bear Grylls'' (Current; Co-produced with Bear Grylls Ventures) * ''

Jane the Virgin ''Jane the Virgin'' is an American romantic comedy-drama and satirical telenovela developed by Jennie Snyder Urman. The series premiered October 13, 2014, on The CW and concluded on July 31, 2019. It is a loose adaptation of the Venezuelan te ...

'' (2014–19; Co-produced with Warner Bros. Television and

CBS Television Studios CBS Studios, Inc. is an American television production company which is a subsidiary of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. It was formed on January 17, 2006, by CBS Corporation as CBS Paramount (Network) Television, as a re ...

) * '' Food Fighters'' (2014–15; Co-produced with Rio Bravo and

Universal Television Universal Television LLC (abbreviated as UTV) is an American television production company that is a division of NBCUniversal Television and Streaming#Universal Studio Group, Universal Studio Group, a division of NBCUniversal, which, in turn, is ...

) * '' King of the Nerds (UK)'' (2015; Co-produced with

Objective Productions Objective Media Group (OMG), previously known as Objective Productions, is a media production company. It has produced shows including '' The Cube'', ''Lingo'', '' The Gold'', '' Feel Good, Peep Show'', '' Fresh Meat'', and '' Toast of London' ...

) * '' King of the Nerds'' (2013–15; Co-produced with 5x5 Media) * '' Fashion Star'' (2012–13; Co-produced with 5x5 Media, Magical Elves, EJD Productions, and The Global Fashion Association) * ''Car Boss'' (2012; Co-produced with 5x5 Media) * '' Mob Wives'' (2011–16; Co-produced with The Weinstein Company Television) * ''William the Conqueror'' (2011) * ''Master of the Mix'' (2010) * ''Crowd Sourced Hero'' (current Facebook program) * ''Jerk All Stars'' (2010; MySpace) * ''The Sheriff'' (2011; Co-produced with 5x5 Media) * ''

Marco Polo Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...

'' (2014–16; Co-produced with The Weinstein Company Television) * YouTube official food channel HUNGRY (2012) * '' Bet on Your Baby'' (2013–14; Co-produced with 5x5 Media) * '' The Hero'' (2013; Co-produced with 5x5 Media) * '' Miami Monkey'' (2013; Co-produced with Just Jenn, Left-Right, and The Weinstein Company Television) * '' Killer Women'' (2014; Co-produced with Latin World Entertainment and

ABC Studios ABC Signature was a production arm of the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), which is a subsidiary of Disney Television Studios, a sub-division of the Disney Entertainment business segment and division of The Walt Disney Company. The studio's ...

) * '' Candid Camera'' (2014: Co-produced with Candid Camera, Inc.) * ''Terry Crews Saves Christmas'' (2016) * ''Winsanity'' (2016) * ''Flaked'' (2016) * '' Dog and Beth: On the Hunt'' (2013–15) * '' Hot Date'' (2017–19)

References

{{Reflist, 30em Television production companies of the United States IAC Inc. American companies established in 2009 Mass media companies established in 2009 Entertainment companies established in 2009 2009 establishments in California 2018 mergers and acquisitions Companies based in Los Angeles