Electus Secures Global Distribution Rights for Spike TV's Reality Television Series Flip Men, American Digger and Car Lot Cowboy

Published on Friday, 20 January 2012 19:09 Written by TradersHuddle Staff

NEW YORK, Jan. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ben Silverman's multimedia entertainment studio Electus, an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), today announced that Electus International, the Company's global distribution arm, has secured the global distribution rights for three unscripted series from Spike TV, Flip Men, American Digger and Car Lot Cowboy to be sold at market during NATPE 2012. Car Lot Cowboy is a new television series produced by Electus and 5x5 Media in association with Vem's Sweatshop Media, the studio that also created the series.

"The Spike TV brand has always been synonymous with smart, inventive content which has quickly become a sought-after commodity in the international marketplace," said John Pollak, President of Electus International. "We are excited to partner with Spike TV in launching Flip Men, American Diggers and Car Lot Cowboy. With amazing characters and internationally relatable environments, we know that these series will resonate with a global audience."

Flip Men, a half-hour unscripted series created and executive produced by Dave Broome (The Biggest Loser) and 25/7 Productions, originally premiered on Spike TV in October 2011. The series showcases the young, entrepreneurial duo of Utah-based Doug Clark and Mike Baird, who constantly roll the dice with their financial fates by buying and flipping foreclosed property. In each episode, the hosts walk viewers through the often-tenuous process that is involved and provide tips and analysis along their journey. Following the purchase of a property, cameras follow the duo as they enter a newly purchased house, where you never know what's behind the door: a biohazard, a meth lab, or a squatter who just doesn't want to leave. Time is of the essence as they clean up the place, renovate it, stage it, get it to market and flip it.

American Digger, created and executive produced by Gurney Productions (Auction Hunters) is a new series slated to air on Spike TV in March 2012. The series follows former professional wrestler turned modern day relic hunter Ric Savage, as he and his team from American Savage target areas such as battlefields and historic sites in the hopes of striking it rich and capitalizing on unearthing and selling bits of American history. The only thing standing in their way are the homeowners themselves, who Savage must convince to allow them to dig up their property using high-tech ground penetrating equipment and one very large bulldozer.  What artifacts they find, they sell for a substantial profit, but not before negotiating a deal to divide the revenue with the property owners.  The team from American Savage is comprised of Ric's wife Rita, a New Jersey native, their 25-year old son Giuseppe who is the "muscle" of the operation and two artifact recovery experts, Rue Schumate and Bob Buttafuso.   

Car Lot Cowboy is created and developed by Vem Miller in association with Vem's Sweatshop Media and executive produced by Ben Silverman (The Biggest Loser, The Office, Mob Wives) of Electus and 5x5 Media (Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution). The series, slated to air on Spike TV in April 2012, showcases renowned auto dealership 'doctor' Tom Stuker, whose innovative and brazen methods for selling cars has made him a venerable legend in the industry.  Stuker has traversed the globe, logging over 10 million air miles, visiting over 1,500 auto dealerships in desperate need of his guidance.  In each episode, Stuker, along with his car-savvy team, travel to a different dealership in financial straits.  With his signature black cowboy hat and boots, Stuker's larger-than-life persona is instrumental in galvanizing the attention and respect of the dealership employees.  His blunt talk may rub some of the salespeople the wrong way, but his tough-love approach and keen sense of the business ultimately delivers unmatchable success.

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 Spike TV

Spike TV is available in 99.8 million homes and is a division of Viacom Media Networks.  A unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), Viacom Media Networks is one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms.  Spike TV's Internet address is www.spike.com and  for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV's press site at http://www.spike.com/press.  Follow us on Twitter@spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

Media contacts:

Electus

Stacy Simpson

(212) 314-7326

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Sunshine Sachs

Jessica Berger

(212) 691-2800

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SOURCE Electus