Electus International Acquires Global Distribution Rights for Two Reality Series From Howard Schultz's Lighthearted Entertainment

NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben Silverman's multimedia entertainment studio Electus, an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), today announced that its global distribution arm, Electus International, has acquired the global distribution rights for two titles from Howard Schultz's Lighthearted Entertainment, Next and Anything for You.

Next, one of the premiere dating show formats, co-created and produced by Howard Schultz's Lighthearted Entertainment (Extreme Home Makeover, The Moment of Truth), originally aired on MTV in 2007-2008 as the highest-rated show in the history of the network in that time period.  This unique speed-dating show features five single contestants who compete to see who will last the longest on a date. The longer they spend on the date, the more cash they have the opportunity to win. The only catch is, if the date is not going well, they can be immediately replaced with the next contestant. But, if they're chosen for a second date, they have the option to decide to either take the money and run, or try again for true love.

Anything for You is a new studio game show concept where the contestant has the opportunity to win $250,000 just by answering thirteen multiple choice questions.  If they get any questions wrong, it's up to a group of their close friends and family to keep them in the game by completing a series of outrageous challenges.

"Howard is the master at creating innovative formats that change the global television landscape, as we've seen through worldwide sensations Extreme Makeover and The Moment Of Truth," said John Pollak, President of Electus International."Given this successful track record and Howard's vision, we are incredibly excited to bring Next and Anything for You to our international clients."

"John is the best in the business when it comes to forming perfect partnerships with networks and production companies around the world, and we are proud to have Electus act as our distributors for these two projects," said Howard Schultz, President of Lighthearted Entertainment. "Next has already been produced in four countries and has been a hit in each one of them, and Anything for You is the next big format for the world that will easily translate across any country or culture."  

About Electus

Electus is the first integrated multimedia entertainment studio to unite producers, creators, advertisers and distributors under one roof and produce all forms of content for distribution across a variety of platforms around the world. Headed by Ben Silverman in partnership with IAC (NASDAQ: IACI), the company connects advertisers, distributors and content creators early on in the development process, enabling marketers and advertisers to be a true partner in campaigns and content creation. Electus International, the global distribution arm of Electus, is responsible for all international sales and distribution for Electus' programming and its studio partners as well as programs and formats from other well-known 3rd party providers. For more information on Electus, visit www.electus.com.

About Lighthearted Entertainment

Lighthearted Entertainment was established in 1992 by CEO Howard Schultz as an independently-owned television production company, specializing in all forms of non-scripted programming. Lighthearted Entertainment has created and produced literally thousands of hours of very diverse television shows for cable, syndicated and network television, including the recent worldwide television smash hits: FOX's THE MOMENT OF TRUTH, ABC's EXTREME MAKEOVER, and MTV's NEXT!. Lighthearted Entertainment is involved creatively in the productions for all of the shows they create and produce, and they own the formats for nearly all of their properties. Its string of highly rated, long-running reality shows, many of which have gone on to inspire similar shows, is unparalleled in the industry.

Media contacts:
Electus
Stacy Simpson
(212) 314-7326
[email protected]

Sunshine Sachs
Jessica Berger
(212) 691-2800
[email protected]

SOURCE Electus