NATPE News: MTV alumni DiGa reveal slate, book first orders

DiGa, the US producer formed by MTV programming chiefs Tony Di Santo and Liz Gately, has unveiled a launch slate that includes three shows with Jimmy Kimmel’s Jackhole Industries. Di Santo and Gately subsequently told TBIvision that the company has already got two reality shows away with cable networks, with details to follow.

Di Santo and Gately, who were president, programming and head of series development respectively at MTV in the US, are credited with a string of hits at the cable net. Their new company is backed by Ben Silverman’s Electus, which will distribute DiGa’s content through its recently acquired distribution arm Engine.

At NATPE the execs told delegates about the trio of shows with Jackhole, a comedy format from US personality Nick Cannon’s NCredible Entertainment starring female personality Amanda Diva and a fashion series with an interactive element from Jill Martin, Today Show reporter and author of Fashion for Dummies.

Di Santo told TBIvision its launch line-up is actually runs much deeper than that announced during the NATPE session. There are about 35 projects on the slate, two of which have already been picked up. Di Santo said the projects with Jackhole were a studio-based gameshow, a reality competition show with a comedic bent and a half-hour reality comedy series, described as a Jimmy Kimmel passion project.

The DiGa founders have also retained links with MTV. They have an agreement with the cable net, which has agreed to take a number of DiGa shows going forward – although it does not get first-look at its ideas. The pair will also remain as executive producers on MTV’s upcoming TV reboot of 1980s Michael J Fox movie Teen Wolf.