Cris Abrego, quite fittingly, has had one of the more surreal career trajectories in entertainment. A reality producer who got his start logging tapes for Road Rules before going on to create aughts hits such as Flavor of Love, Celebrity Paranormal Project and The Surreal Life, he segued to the C-suite after the 2008 acquisition of his 51 Minds Entertainment shingle by Dutch-based multiplatform media company Endemol. “I certainly felt something shift when I sold my first business,” says Abrego, who was 36 at the time. “To have that kind of windfall at that age was life-changing.”
Rather than rest on those early laurels, the East Los Angeles native was “hungry to do it all again,” and he not only survived subsequent corporate mergers and acquisitions but steadily rose through the ranks, becoming CEO of Endemol Shine North America and now chairman of French media behemoth Banijay’s North American operations, where he occupies rarefied air as one of the very few executives of Latino descent at the helm of a major, mainstream entertainment company. “I’m still a worker and a builder like I’ve always been, building shows and building companies, but now my position allows me to create more opportunities and have a much greater impact,” says Abrego, who helped Endemol grow through expansion in Mexico, Brazil and throughout Latin America.
Now, he sees a similar opportunity closer to home. In October, Abrego and longtime friend and collaborator Eva Longoria launched the Banijay-backed Hyphenate Media Group. The duo (two of the most powerful Latinos in Hollywood) hope Hyphenate, part production company and part business incubator, will be a haven for creatives who’ve grown tired of working in the traditional studio system. “These overall deals that writers and creators get into, they have not serviced my ambition,” says Longoria, whose UnbeliEVAble Entertainment (Flamin’ Hot) and its entire slate have now been folded into Hyphenate. “I want 10 shows on the air. Not two.”
Hyphenate, which has Abrego serving as CEO and Longoria as chief creative officer, gets its name from the collaborators it hopes to lure: multihyphenates, like Longoria, who write, produce, direct and even act. The company won’t be servicing only the Hispanic market, the primary target of much of Longoria’s content. The plan is to form a diverse slate in TV and film and digital media, reflective of today’s multicultural audience, with an emphasis on scripted programming. Partnerships will require more of a commitment and less up-front money than a traditional overall deal but offer greater potential for rewards down the line.
“Looking at the contraction of the industry and coming out of a major labor strike, I think people understand that we can give some power back to these creators while supporting them,” says Abrego. “There are a lot of concerns about all the change in this industry, but we think this is built for the time.”
Since making their plans public during their joint keynote at MIPCOM in October (where, fittingly, their topic was “The Future of Content”), Abrego says they’ve received quite a few calls from independent creatives interested in coming in-house. They hope to announce the first round of investments in the new year. And the more these prospective partners want to do, the better.
“People want to make everything now — drama, comedy, documentary, unscripted, podcasts,” he adds. “And that’s really what it takes to build a business in this climate. You have to find more ways in to create, more ways to win.”
“We’re going to be looking at creators who disrupt an industry that wants to keep you in your lane,” says Eva Longoria of Hyphenate’s vision.
This story first appeared in the Nov. 8 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.