MTV Entertainment Group Launches New Initiative to Fuel the Creation of More BIPOC and Women Owned and Operated Production Companies
MTV Entertainment Group has committed $250 million over the next three years to support the growth of content from BIPOC and women-owned production companies. This initiative will enhance unscripted content with funding, production infrastructure, and creative services. The group will collaborate with Lashan Browning and Adam Gonzalez, experienced producers who will establish their own ventures with equity investments from MTV. This move reinforces MTV's legacy in reality TV by promoting diversity and ownership opportunities for underrepresented creators.
- Investment of $250 million to support BIPOC and women-owned production companies.
- Collaboration with experienced producers for the creation of new unscripted content.
- Potential for increased diversity in the reality television landscape.
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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--ViacomCBS’ MTV Entertainment Group (formerly Entertainment & Youth) today announced a commitment of
As part of this newly formed Studio, MTV Entertainment – whose portfolio includes MTV and VH1 – will provide funding, production infrastructure, services and staff to foster new creative, formats and ideas that will fuel the unscripted content needs of today and tomorrow.
Previously announced Lashan Browning and Adam Gonzalez – prolific unscripted executive producers whom the Group brought in house last year to pilot this initiative – have already been producing and creating unscripted content and will form their own respective third-party production ventures with an equity investment made by MTV Entertainment. Browning, who began her career working for Spike Lee and went on to become an integral part of the start-up team for Oxygen, EP’d the previous season of Love & Hip Hop Atlanta and Cartel Crew while Gonzalez, executive produced VH1’s Teyana & Iman in addition to America’s Next Top Model and Mob Wives where he first worked with MTV Entertainment’s Nina L. Diaz, President of Content and Chief Creative Officer.
MTV is widely credited as the creator of reality television, having launched The Real World in 1992 which was one of the first shows to tackle critical issues of HIV/AIDS, race, gender and LGBTQ+ equity through real life characters. As a genre, reality TV has been noted for its diversity and increasing roles for women and people of color both in front of and behind the camera. This new initiative builds on MTV Entertainment’s founding legacy and takes it one step beyond the screen, with ownership opportunities for its diverse partners.
“As a former showrunner, this endeavor is something very close to my heart,” said Diaz. “Having come up on the production side where this kind of pipeline didn’t exist, it is a great privilege to help launch a new generation of creative powerhouses into production ownership.”
