Electus and DumbDumb clip in Top 100 Videos of 2010

The partnership of CEO Ben Silverman’s next generation studio Electus and the advertising and production company DumbDumb have made it in the Top 100 Videos of 2010. The short advertising clip “Dirty Shorts-The Prom Date” features DumbDumb founders Jason Bateman as the overprotective father and Will Arnett as the sleazy high school teacher taking out 18 year old daughter. The clip was sponsored by Wrigley's Orbit gum and promotes the product by using comedy and combining it with product placement.

The clip is ranked number 46 on the Gawker.TV list. Next to humor, the tagline “a good clean feeling no matter what” at the end of the clip is used to promote Orbit gum.

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Electus - highly successful for IAC

Berry Diller, CEO of IAC is stepping down, leaving large shoes to fill. Diller has had a lot of success in his position, the most recent one being the launch of next generation studio Electus with Ben Silverman. Silverman, who is the CEO of Electus, has not been shy of drawing in an impressive number of deals since the launch of the company a year ago. Amongst these projects, of which most are still in production, are the 10-episode show ‘Mafia Wives’ with VH1 and Weinstein Co., and dramas ‘William the Conquerer’ and ‘Peacekeeper’ at Starz. Not to forget are the adaptation of the Chinese gameshow ‘Big Time Spender’ and projects with Yahoo, MySpace, MTV, ABC, and NBC.

Diller is looking forward to spending more time with Electus and Ben Silverman on IAC’s media assets. He is planning on making it a point to spend much more time “in my original role in the company, before we'd built up so many operating businesses, of finding new opportunities for investment."

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Silverman's and Electus' quest for more

Ben Silverman and his next generation studio Electus are gaining more exposure and more praise. The IAC-owned company has recorded major successes by partnering with Web’s major players AOL, Yahoo, MySpace and Facebook. Recently it also announced a deal with VH1 for a reality series called Mob Wives, showing its involvement in TV and movies. Nada Stirratt, chief revenue officer at MySpace accredits this success to CEO Silverman, who has a feeling for what is and what will be successful. She states, he is so full of ideas that inspirations for new projects and partnerships are not difficult come up with.

This would also be a reason why he is going into a field that has been untouched and abandoned for a long time - scripted content for the Web. According to Andrew Budkofsky from Break Media, Silverman already takes online video to a whole other level, raising expectations for this new plan high. Indicators for the future boom of scripted Web content are the readiness of audiences to be entertained by Web video and the way online content is shared today.

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Electus and 'Mob Wives'

If Real Housewives was able to get you hooked, Ben Silverman’s new series “Mob Wives” most definitely will. The new series that is supposed to air in March 2011 can be seen as a mix of “Sopranos” and “Real Housewives.” The creator, Jennifer Graziano, explains that the 10-episode show will follow the every day lives of women whose husbands or fathers were involved in Mafia related activities. It will portray what they have to go through to rebuild their lives. Ben Silverman, CEO of next generation studio Electus will co-produce the series that is expected to start shooting shortly after Thanksgiving.

Electus will partner with The Weinstein Co. on this series, which is already expected to be so successful that VH1 did not require a pilot before taking on rights for it. According to them Silverman carries around golden nuggets with him and drops them here or there to watch them prosper. By tapping into the cable market Electus is taking another large stride ahead of competition, which is hesitant to attempt similar moves.

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Electus and Myspace to produce Jerk All-Stars

On November 30^th the social network Myspace, and next generation Studio Electus, founded by Ben Silverman, are going to air the series “Jerk All-Stars Sponsored by Sprite”. The series will run over 14 episodes featuring dance crews from all over the country competing for the next Jerk All-Star. To be able to appear on the show teams have to post videos of their performances on Myspace to show who has the talent that it takes to be the best Jerker.

Jerkin is described as more than just a new style of dance. The Jerk All-Stars Intro shows teenagers describing what it truly means to them to attract those who feel the same way - “Jerking is not a dance, it’s the movement.. The jerk movement means lifestyle”.

Click here to view the original article and Intro video.

Electus and AOL create “AOL Daybreak”

Ben Silverman’s next generation studio Electus and AOL are creating a new show called AOL Daybreak. This talk show will be shown in the mornings and will cover news as well as opinion about these by users. Lindsay Campbell from Wallstrip and Moblogic will be the host of the show that is going to resemble the morning radio, just online. The most important and relevant news will be covered in the mornings. AOL Daybreak is part of AOL’s try to create a site with whole day program divided into different segments of the day to cover varying areas of the news. Next to the major news stories of the day this video-heavy site will cover entertainment, and fashion as well as buzz-worthy videos.

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Electus partnering in production of Subway High School Heroes

Electus is working with Facebook and Subway on the competition Subway High School Heroes. The restaurant industry has been recording declining revenues and is looking for new ways to retain and get new customers. Utilizing social engagement in marketing and advertising campaigns is gaining more popularity as it appeals more to today’s users. The 8-week series Subway High School Series is based on Tony Pace’s statement that winners eat at Subway and that these winners are many times not only the ones that excel in sports, the classroom or in the community but also just the kid next to us at school.

High school students will be able to vote and suggest friends, classmates or teachers on the designated facebook page. They are furthermore encouraged to post pictures, videos etc. in order to generate a higher number of votes to determine the winner. CEO and founder of Electus, Ben Silverman is expressing his excitement about the partnership in order to pushing the ecolution of social media.

Today social media is used for consumers to communicate, to share stories and pass on information. For that matter they are excited about engaging audiences in “brand narrative and community empowerment.” The program began on October 18^th and will show the results of the cooperation of top companies in creating creative campaigns inspiring and praising young adults all around the country.

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Electus got the rights for international Hiccups

The content development agency Electus bought the international sales rights to the Canadian comedy “Hiccups.” Hiccups was a huge success in Canada last year and Ben Silverman saw the potential of the CTV sitcom that features a children’s book author with anger issues. Nancy Robertson who is being treated by Ben Butt, an untalented life coach that cannot seem to help her, plays the main character the author.

The Canadian produced comedy is currently going into its second season of production in Vancouver and will not be finished until the end of the year.

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Ben Silverman, Founder of Electus, points out necessity for TV producers to increase budget savings

Few advertisers commit to sponsoring a complete TV show, especially when it is new and has not proven itself to be successful. Most advertisers use straightforward product placement deals, which bring in only a small amount of money. Ben Silverman, CEO of the multimedia production company Electus, states that saving at least 15% on production costs can determine the success or failure of a TV show. “The Office”, which was produced by Silverman only survived due to early investment from advertisers such as Staple. TV production financing issues are going to continue to be challenging, as they face lower-projected ratings of network shows and decreasing program license fees.

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Mastercom Rates "The Dancer" Top 10 Video of August

Mastercom has determined the Top 10 viral videos in August and Electus's DumbDumb clip, "The Dancer" has made the list

DumbDumb – The Dancer

The second episode in the new web series from Orbit chewing gum is labeled the “The Dancer.” In this episode Jason Bateman is caught in another unusually dirty situation: performing on the main stage of a strip club. Again, Orbit gum is used to clean up the dirty situation.

Click here to view The Dancer DumbDumb video on YouTube.

Electus to Participate in NY Advertising Week

Stars align for Advertising Week VII to focus on leadership, gaming, interactive TV, mobile, social media, sports, music and 3D. Each discipline will take center stage in New York City Sept. 27-Oct. 1. Electus will participate and be represented as a next generation studio enabling premium content creators to engage with advertising and technology partners at the inception of the creative process and partner on the finished product across a global and multi-platform distribution model.

Visit the Benzinga.com website to find out more about the NY Advertising Week and Electus' involvement.

Recreating Advertising for the Age of Viral

DumbDumb, a production company led by Arrested Development alumni Will Arnett and Jason Bateman, have recently started to change the world of advertising online. Ben Silverman's multimedia company, Electus has an exclusive partnership with DumbDumb, which will package the original digital content within Electus' Comedy division where they will be partnered with advertisers to create original commercials and programming for distribution across multiple media platforms, including television and film. They have linked up with brand names like Wrigley's Orbit chewing gum, promoting their most recent web release, "The Dancer."

Click here to read more about Electus's DumbDumb from The Mark.

Electus Announces Exclusive Partnership With Leading Production Company 5x5 Media, Inc.

Ben Silverman's next generation multimedia studio, Electus, an operating business of IAC, today announced that it has entered into an exclusive agreement with the three co-founders and executive producers of 5X5 Media; Craig Armstrong, Rick Ringbakk and Tod Mesirow, whereby Electus will retain exclusive distribution rights to all non-scripted content and programming produced by 5x5 Media.

Click here to read the rest of the Electus release...