Electus, the multimedia studio established by Ben Silverman, today announced that Chris Grant will join the company as CEO effective Nov. 1. This position gives Grant responsibility for the grown of Electus in the direction of global TV, and digital and branded entertainment. With a background in advertising and international distribution, acquisition and production, Grant also is expected to drive Electus’ domestic television efforts.
Chief operating officer ’s responsibilities will expand to include digital, advertising, finance, mergers and acquisitions, and managing the company’s relationships with Yahoo, Microsoft and Google.
It’s a reunion of sorts. When Silverman (pictured) launched Reveille, Grant joined him shortly afterward to head the company’s International Distribution and Creative Affairs division.Reveille was acquired by Elisabeth Murdoch’s Shine Group, and Grant became president of its Shine International division, in which role Grant signed a deal to sell Electus content internationally under the company name Electus Distribution.
Both Grant and Buckley will report directly to Silverman, who founded Electus, an operating business of Barry Diller’s IAC, having served a colorful term as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment. Silverman will continue to oversee all aspects of Electus including creative opportunities and expansion strategies among the company’s studio partners CollegeHumor, Notional, DumbDumb, Electus Distribution, 5×5 Media, DiGa, and other television and digital projects. Electus focuses on involving advertisers, distributors and content creators early on in the development process.
“Watching Chris Grant grow into the finest and most sought after executive television has seen in a long time has brought me tremendous joy and pride. He was an amazing partner at Reveille, and will be an amazing leader for Electus. He is a fantastic collaborator and entrepreneur with management skills and great passion,” said Ben Silverman, founder of Electus. “With Drew Buckley and Chris Grant’s individual experience, relationships and skill sets, Electus will continue to drive forward our ambitious content strategy across platforms as well as our overall vision to become the only true, nimble independent studio.”
As president of Shine International, Grant was responsible for distributing programming from all Shine Group companies, including Reveille, Kudos, Dragonfly, Princess Productions, Brown Eyed Boy, Shine TV, Shine France, Shine Germany, Shine Australia and Metronome, the Nordic region’s production group. During Grant’s tenure at Shine International, non-scripted formats including MasterChef, The Biggest Loser, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and The Moment of Truth became very successful global television brands. He also handled scripted successes like The Listener, a co-production among NBC, Fox International Channels and CTV in Canada where the show is entering its’ third season, and the FX series Archer.
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Photo of Ben Silverman by flickr user Eirik Solheim, used under Creative Commons license
