Electus Plans to Launch New Musical Series

Electus continues to pull in exciting new shows to the US market. Already being compared to Glee, The Kitchen Musical is a musical drama set in the restaurant world. It is co-produced by The Group Entertainment, Electus/Engine Distribution and Small World Productions with Electus/Engine Distribution owning distribution rights across all platforms including television, motion picture, and digital.

Silverman, founder and CEO of Electus stated: “We are pleased to add this compelling new seriesto our fast-growing slate of high concept, international programming as The Kitchen Musical has universal appeal that will resonate greatly with the global marketplace.”

Click here to read more from the Hollywood Reporter.

New Fashion Series “Fashion Star” Partners with Retailers

NBC’s “Fashion Star,” produced by Electus and Magical Elves, recently set its retail partners for its upcoming inaugural season. Macy’s, Saks Fifth Avenue and H&M will all team up with the show this coming fall. The show, which is currently taping, features 14 unknown designers who are vying to win an exclusive capsule line in all three stores. The contestants will be judged by a panel of celebrity mentors, who were announced earlier this month by the network — Nicole Richie, Jessica Simpson and John Varvatos.

Nicole Richie has her own jewelry line, House of Harlow 1960, which she launched in late 2008 and later expanded to include shoes and apparel. She also partnered with maternity store Pea in the Pod to do an exclusive maternity line with the retailer. Jessica Simpson started her self-titled collection, featuring shoes and handbags, in 2005. John Varvatos is a leading menswear’s designer who has worked for both Polo Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein. Elle Macpherson will host.

Each hour-long episode will feature a fashion show where designers will show their work in front of a live audience. The contestant whose design doesn’t get picked up by a retailer will be eliminated.

"Partnering with the world's best retailers will offer audiences an intimate, real-world look into how the fashion industry works and what makes buyers tick," Ben Silverman, CEO and founder of Electus, said.

Electus’ “Mob Wives” Reunion Racks Up the Ratings

“Mob Wives,” produced by Electus, hosted a reunion special on Sunday night and was met with season-high ratings. VH1 aired the special at 8 p.m. and also had an encore airing at 11 p.m. During the 8 p.m. showing, 1.1 million of the viewers were in the age 18-49 demographic. The show garnered 2.7 million viewers for its special, and had an average of 1.33 million total viewers per episode in its first season. Throughout the season, “Mob Wives’” premieres have made VH1 the no. 1 non-sports cable network in the 8 p.m. timeslot with women age 18-34.

Because of its high viewership, VH1 picked up “Mob Wives” for a second season, which will premiere in the fall. The network slated “Mob Wives” for 12 new episodes. “Mob Wives” goes into the lives of four Staten Island women — Renee Graziano, Drita D’Avanzo, Carla Facciolo and Karen Gravano — whose husbands or fathers have been arrested or imprisoned for mob-related activities. Graziano’s father has been charged with mob-related crimes, and her sister is the creator of the show. D’Avanzo’s husband has been imprisoned for crimes relating to narcotics and robbery. Facciolo’s father was the former acting boss of the Lucchese crime family. Gravano’s father was the underboss of the Bambio crime family and also served as a federal informant.

Electus’ “Mob Wives” will return the same four women for its second season.

Electus’ Ben Silverman on Panel at Cannes Lions International Film Festival of Creativity

Ben Silverman, founder and CEO of Electus, served on a panel alongside Robert Redford, founder and president of Sundance Institute and hosted by Ross Levinsohn, executive vice president of Yahoo! Americas at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. At the event, Yahoo! announced its sponsorship of the short program at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, which will take place January 19-29 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah.

At the event, Yahoo! will premiere a host of new short films and allow audience members to vote for a favorite. The award will be presented to the filmmaker at the Short Film Awards party, which will take place sometime during the festival. More details will be released from Yahoo! closer to the event’s date.

During the panel discussion, Electus’ Ben Silverman talked about how important storytelling can be in the entertainment industry, and how this helps create first-class content for viewers.

Mob Wives Going International

Need a substitute for 'Jersey Shore' or Housewives? Try out the new hit series from Electus and VH1, Mob Wives. Only 5 episodes in, it was renewed for a second season and a reunion show. Most recently the show was picked up internationally by over 20 territories including Austrailia and Canada! Ben Silverman's multimedia entertainment studio Electus is responsible for its creation along with Jennifer Graziano and executive produced by Harvey and Bob Weinstein of The Weinstein Company. The show gives you a real look at what it is like to be born into or married into the mob. If you're not convinced, watch the trailer from VH1 for yourself:
http://www.vh1.com/video/misc/634349/mob-wives-super-tease.jhtml#id=1660352

“Mob Wives” Gets Second Season

Electus’ hit “Mob Wives” has proved its staying power: VH1’s Jeff Olde has announced the show will be renewed for a second season. High viewing numbers encouraged the network to continue its programming, after the show averaged 1.3 million viewers during its first five weeks on air.

“Our viewers have connected passionately with these women and their unique, authentic stories in the realms of pop culture and music,” Olde said to Gather.com. “We’re very happy to be able to continue these storylines.”

The show follows the lives of four women who run their households while their husbands or fathers are focused on the Mob. The main characters are all friends who live in New York’s Staten Island. “Mob Wives” is produced by The Weinstein Company, Electus studios, JustJenn Productions and Left/Right. Alongside Olde, the show’s executive producers include Shelly Tatro, Kari McFarland and Rick Hankey.

DumbDumb Co-Founder to Star in New NBC Comedy

This year’s TV upfront week revealed a new project in the works for actor Will Arnett, a co-founder of DumbDumb, an Electus partner. The announcement came from NBC, the network with one of the most anticipated lineups. In “Up All Night,” Arnett will play a stay-at-home husband to Christina Applegate, who also serves as one of the show’s producers, alongside “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels and writer Emily Spivey. Maya Rudolph, another familiar face from “Saturday Night Live” who is most recently known from “Bridesmaids,” will also star in the pilot, as Applegate’s best friend and boss.

The show will mark Applegate’s return to television, two years after “Samantha Who?” was cancelled. Since then, the actress has appeared in movies including “Cats and Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore,” “Going the Distance,” and “Hall Pass.”

Arnett will also guest-star on the season finale of “The Office” tonight, which will be Steve Carell’s last show. As the season closes and we bid Carell adieu, we assure you there’s more to come from Electus, so stay tuned!