Ben Silverman Launches Branded Entertainment Studio

Just another major Hollywood exec jumping on the bandwagon of aligning A-list talent like Jason Bateman and Web distribution to his arsenal. Yahoo powering the move is no surprise, they haven't had any real stake in the content game and this is a big opp for them to leverage their scale. Great move by Silverman, as it is for anyone else making the same transition.....

Executive’s New Studio Teams Up With Yahoo
By BRIAN STELTER

The former NBC entertainment co-chairman Ben Silverman has lined up his first distributor, Yahoo, for his new studio, which he says will specialize in creating shows in concert with advertisers.
The studio, Electus, is expected to announce the deal on Friday.
Electus was founded last year by Mr. Silverman in partnership with Barry Diller’s IAC/InterActiveCorp. At the new company, Mr. Silverman is putting into practice what he so often talked about at NBC: exceptionally close connections between content creators and corporate sponsors.
In an interview Thursday, Mr. Silverman was not specific about the types of programs he would create for Yahoo, but said he saw “opportunities for episodic storytelling” that included “more direct relationships” with advertisers. The move by Electus and Yahoo, which has dabbled in original programming for years with varying degrees of success, is in part a response to advertiser demands for more online video inventory.
“We are always getting requests from advertisers for exclusive opportunities” for integrations into Web programs, said Joanne Bradford, the senior vice president for North America revenue and market development at Yahoo. “We really feel like Ben has proven that he can come up with great content.”
Before coming to NBC in 2007, Mr. Silverman was the founder of Reveille, the producer of programs like “The Biggest Loser” and “The Office.” He left NBC last July and announced the deal with Mr. Diller the same day.
Asked whether he thought his brand had been tarnished by his time at NBC, where the network’s ratings slipped during his tenure, Mr. Silverman said, “I quit NBC because they were obviously building themselves to sell.” General Electric is selling a majority stake in NBC Universal to Comcast.
In addition to the Yahoo partnership, Mr. Silverman said that he had also signed a contract with Ryan Seacrest, the TV and radio host and budding entrepreneur, and that Electus was doing “multiple projects” with him.
Mr. Silverman is also working with the actors Jason Bateman, Will Arnett, America Ferrera and others. “We’re tapping into the A-list storytelling engine,” he said.
Yahoo said that the programs would begin to make their debuts in several months.