Chris Grant joins Electus as Boss

Reality skein "Mob Spouses," which opened last spring on VH1, is among the shows about the front burners at Ben Silverman shingle Electus. SilvermanGrantBen Silverman has drawn on longtime lieutenant Chris Grant for everyone as Boss of his fast-growing Electus production and distribution company because it prepares for any growth spurt in the content procedures.Grant, who left as prexy of Shine Intl. in May, will formally begin his new gig on November. 1 and will also be located in La. His mandate would be to help the organization scout for producer close ties and potential company purchases, mainly in the U.S. and also the U.K., and oversee the development of their TV, digital and top quality entertainment procedures.Grant works carefully with Electus chief operating officer Came Buckley, who is constantly on the are accountable to Silverman and keeps oversight of digital, advertising, finance and M&A activities in addition to control over the business's business associations with Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.Grant stated he was wanting to reunite with Silverman in a moment when Electus is poised to construct rapidly about the foundation built throughout the 2 years since Silverman released the organization together with Craig Diller's IAC."The energy of possessing privileges and formats hasn't been more obvious to us," Grant told Variety. "To construct the corporation towards the scale you want to construct it to, it begins with privileges and possession."About ten years ago Grant was one of the founding executives of Silverman's Reveille banner, that was eventually bought out by Elisabeth Murdoch's Shine Group in 2008 after Silverman decamped for his turbulent two-year run as NBC Entertainment topper. Before Reveille, Grant was trained in the skill of worldwide-privileges wheeling and dealing by Silverman when both labored for that William Morris Agency within the the nineteen nineties.At Reveille and Shine, Grant's focus was on worldwide sales and distribution. At Electus, his attention is going to be a lot more about the domestic front, where he and Silverman see ample possibilities for production company purchases and producer close ties."It is a perfect time for Chris to become listed on the organization," Silverman stated. "He will be accelerate and allow us to manage our growth once we build off our existing base."Although there's an abundance of competition at this time among mid-sized distribution organizations competing for unscripted format privileges, Grant asserted that Electus includes a strong feature to prospective partners.To begin with, Reveille were built with a strong history like a pioneer and innovator with worldwide format certification, top quality entertainment deals and original digital content, varying in the U.S. adaptations of "Work,Inch "Ugly Betty" and "The Tudors" towards the retailing juggernaut of NBC's "Greatest Loser Franchise" to Reveille's early Content partnership with MSN and blue-nick marketers. With IAC's backing, Electus has got the deep pockets and also the close ties to build up original content in creative ways -- like beginning a show on the web or perhaps in a foreign market before shopping it within the U.S. market, where nets typically drive a tough bargain of demanding possession."Using the mixture of Ben, Came and myself, we are able to show a producer that we understand how you can drive value through multiple distribution channels, and that we can introduce their suggestions to the greatest marketers on the planet,Inch Grant stated.Electus' existing content partners range from the CollegeHumor comedy website Will Arnett and Jason Bateman's DumbDumb shingle and production companies 5x5 Media, Notional and DiGa, the second run by MTV alums Tony DiSanto and Liz Gateley.Among Electus' active roster of unscripted skeins are VH1's "Mob Spouses," NBC's approaching "Fashion Star," located by Elle MacPherson BET's "Masters of Mix" and Spike TV's "Vehicle Boss." Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com