"To make history in Havana and be able to perform maybe in front of a million, 2 million people, I'm hoping for that within the next five years," he says excitedly. "I can picture it in my mind," said the Cuban singer.
Miller MobleyA little more than a month after the launch of Michellen Phan‘s ICON Network, Endemol Beyond USA is looking to replicate their success with a new crop of genre-specific, digital-first networks.
Endemol Beyond, the digital arm of Endemol Shine North America, announced Thursday at its NewFront event that later this year it will launch pop culture network Looksy featuring comedians Brittany Furlan and Andy Milonakis and sports and gaming network Smasher led by Toby Turner and Jesse Wellens.
Looksy will combine Hollywood pop culture and humor through a slate of original programming that includes scripted series Neurotica from Bad Teacher scribes Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky. Mitchell Kraut is a twentysomething whose warped mind sabotages his search for love. Looksy will also feature reality series True Internet Tales from producer Michael Lynn (E! True Hollywood Story).
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Smasher, meanwhile, will feature a U.S. adaptations of two British series: Legends of Gaming hosted by YouTube gaming star Turner and Rule’m Sports led by Wellens of YouTube channel PrankvsPrank. Other series include celebrity prank show Offsides and a reboot of Milonakis‘ MTV series, Milonakis 2.0.
“Thanks to the astonishing draw of Michelle Phan and all of our terrific talent partners, we’ve successfully launched ICON as the first global premium lifestyle network,” said Endemol Beyond president Will Keenan. “We are now thrilled to add two new digital-first networks, expanding Endemol Beyond USA’s programming reach into sports, gaming and pop culture with some of the biggest names in the business.”
Endemol Beyond is also in the works on two new series with partner Pitbull. Set to launch in 2015, Master Class will feature experts teaching a pair of hosts everything from welding to surviving in the wilderness. Pitbull Presents will introduce fans of the rapper to people in his life, including his chef, audio engineer and b-boy dancer.
