Actress, director and producer Eva Longoria and entertainment executive and producer Cris Abrego said they formed Hyphenate Media Group, a new company backed with a strategic investment from Banijay.
Hyphenate Media Group plans to invest in creator-led production companies and develop its own slate of original content.
Abrego, who will be CEO, and Longoria, who will be chief creative officer, announced their venture at Mipcom Monday.
Abrego will continue as chairman of the Americas for Banijay, a position he’s held since 2020. Banijay’s investment is designed to accelerate Hyphenate’s growth, the companies said.
“With Hyphenate Media Group, Cris and I are leveraging the power of the creative industry’s greatest resource, the multi-hyphenate, to help meet audiences and the industry where they are,” said Longoria, who became famous starring in Desperate Housewives.
“We are answering the industry’s call for premium inclusive content with broad appeal and an undeniable point of view. Our intention is to provide greater financial participation for makers, creators, talent, and entrepreneurs – the Hyphenates. Given the multiple transformations that our business is undergoing, I cannot think of a better time to lean into makers, who are the essential drivers of the creative enterprise,” she said.
Longoria founded the production company UnbeliEVAble Entertainment in 2005, which recently produced Eva Longoria: Searching for Mexico for CNN. Longoria aldo directed Flamin’ Hot and directed and produced the documentary La Guerra Civil.
Hyphenate has acquired UnliEVAble’s full slate of projects.
“With Hyphenate Media Group, Eva and I are building an engine for culture-defining content by investing in visionary multi-hyphenate artists and providing these extraordinary creative leaders with the resources and infrastructure they need to scale their businesses,” Abrego said. “Through capital, brand development, and the leadership provided by Hyphenate, we will drive their creative output, enhance their deal-making capacity, and grow their brands, building franchises driven by original IP. Over the course of my career, I have scaled multiple production studios, starting with my own and, more recently, on behalf of Banijay. I have known Stéphane [Courbit, Banijay chairman] and Marco [Bassetti, Banijay CEO] for many years, and I am grateful to count on their support and investment in this next chapter.”
Before his current post at Banijay, Abrego was CEO of Endemol Shine Holdings. . He co-founded 51 Minds Entertainment in 20023 and was a pioneer of celeb-reality with unscripted shows including The Surreal Life.
“Hyphenate Media Group is a studio with a truly unique perspective. Combining Cris’ standout creative leadership with Eva’s reputation as a celebrated producer, director, and activist, this is a powerful home where multi-hyphenate voices can truly tell inclusive mainstream stories. And, with an ambitious vision, unrivaled credentials, and an impressive growth trajectory, this marks the perfect first strategic investment for us in the U.S. scripted market; a space we’d explored for some time but never, until now, found the right fit to cut through,” said Bassetti.”
