Rodrigo Garcia, second from left and Jon Avnet, second from right with some of their WIGS channel stars.
The beauty of powerful people is that they have influence over their popular friends. This just happens to be the case with mainstream Hollywood producer/directors Jon & Jake Avnet and Rodrigo Garcia who will doubtlessly be bringing many of their friends into productions for their new online entertainment platform Indigenous Media.
Indigenous Media, which is an offshoot of their critically-acclaimed female-centric channel effort WIGS, will look to create half-hour and hour-long scripted content for a variety of online platforms including Yahoo, YouTube and Hulu. In addition to the standard format television style, they will also be creating a slew of shorter format projects, sure to contain some of their Hollywood friends.
With principal investors WPP, the world’s leading communications services group, and ITV, the largest commercial broadcast network in the UK and largest unscripted producer in the US, backing them, Indigenous is certain to have a steady platform of know-how to draw from.
“Shortly after the launch of WIGS, Peter Tortorici approached us with his vision for the potential of scripted content on digital platforms. We agreed and now are working to scale this model with our new investors,” said Jon Avnet in a press release.
That Peter in mention is the CEO of GroupM Entertainment Global, a part of the WPP fold that oversees intellectual property management.
Jon Avnet directed or developed such films as “Black Swan,” “Up Close & Personal” and “Fried Green Tomatoes.” Rodrigo Garcia has directedor worked on such shows and films as “In Treatment,” “Big Love” and “9 Lives.” Jake Avnet has worked on “Righteous Kill,” “Blue” and “Lauren.”
Their presence through Indigenous Media will unquestionably add gravitas to the world of online programming and enhance the abilities of everyone working in the medium today.
