Ben Silverman Named Chairman, Co-CEO of Propagate Content

04.07.2016

Ben Silverman has been named chairman and co-chief executive officer of Propagate Content.

Silverman most recently worked as founder and chairman of Electus, which he launched in 2009 in partnership with Barry Diller's IAC. In this new role, he will reunite with former partner and longtime collaborator, Howard T. Owens, co-chief executive officer of Propagate.

The independent company also has received an additional round of investment from A+E Networks. In February, Propagate launched Fall Into Me, its first short-form series featuring eight romantic dramas for today's modern and tech-savvy woman, on A+E Networks' digital platform.

Nancy Dubuc, president and CEO of A+E Networks, said its main priority is diversifying content offerings, and investing in Propagate is a key part of that strategy.

"I have always admired Ben and Howard's long and lucrative track record of building thriving businesses together," Dubuc said in a statement. "They are two of Hollywood's most impressive and prolific producers and we are very much looking forward to our successful partnership as they develop and produce multi-platform content for the global marketplace."

Owens described Silverman as a media leader with creative clarity and the ability to see around corners.

"His creative and business track records are second to none in the world of TV and digital content," Owens said. "Ben's skill at leading, inspiring, and managing creatives always results in creating companies that are best-in-class worldwide in premium content creation and alternative distribution models."

Silverman brings a substantial scripted portfolio to Propagate, including Isn't that Rich, adapted by Amy Harris from Richard Kirshenbaum's best-selling book with ABC Studios, and Red Team from the best-selling book for Amazon, as well as a groundbreaking Latin cultural documentary produced with Golden Globe-winning Gina Rodriguez and Oscar nominated Morgan Spurlock.

"Howard is a brilliant executive with an incredible work ethic and great taste, and he shares a creative led vision for a global content platform," Silverman said in a statement. "It is an incredible time for storytellers and we are thrilled to reunite backed by friends who love storytelling as much as we do."

Silverman's leadership role comes as Propagate expands its programming slate to all genres, including the development, production and distribution of premium scripted series, longform and non-scripted content for all platforms worldwide, as well as format creation and distribution that will scale globally.

To that end, Propagate has partnered with Will.i.am and Apple on an unscripted series about app developers, marking Apple's first original television series.

Also in production is:

-- Evil Geniuses (working title), a 10-part anthology series for History that exposes the ingenious inventions and diabolical plans behind the world's most successful crimes.

-- What The… (working title), a 10-episode multi-platform factual entertainment series for History that redefines moments in history by providing shareable content in bite-sized form.

-- My So-Called Simple Life (working title), a 10-episode reality series for FYI documenting modern-day families seeking happiness in a life off the grid.

-- A series for Lifetime profiling Vivica A. Fox.

-- Animal ER for Nat Geo Wild, following the doctors and stories of one of the busiest animal emergency centers in America. Silverman's experience ranges from executive producing major network and cable hits like Jane The Virgin at The CW and Flaked for Netflix, to films Mansome and Hands of Stone. He's currently producing the feature film Clemente, an upcoming biopic of Roberto Duran starring Robert De Niro, Usher and Edgar Ramirez. He's also known for bringing Ugly Betty to ABC and The Office to NBC.

Prior to launching Electus, Silverman served as co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios.