Sofia Vergara is launching a Latino focused Media company

05 Feb, 2017

My newest project RAZE, a new media company created to be the voice of today’s latino generation, was announced today!

Emiliano Calemzuk, former CEO of Shine Americas and president of Fox TV Studios, Luis Balaguer, founder of Latin World Entertainment, and “Modern Family’s” Sofia Vergara today announced Raze, a new media company created to be the voice of today’s multicultural generation, which is heavily influenced by Latinos. United Talent Agency (“UTA”) and Ziffren Brittenham LLP, are founding partners and advisors. Raze also announced today it has closed a Series A from Greycroft Partners, Raine Ventures and UTA. Brent Weinstein, partner and head of digital media at UTA, and Mark Terbeek, partner, Greycroft Partners, have joined the board.

Raze is creating content that changes the narrative for how Latin-centered stories are told. Later this year, the company will debut its mobile, video-first destination that will be a hub for news, lifestyle, beauty and more. Raze’s first show, “Her Name Was Dolores – The Jenni I Knew,” produced in partnership with BTF and Dhana Media, premiered on Univision. The company has several additional television shows in development at traditional networks and SVOD partners, including:

• In partnership with Dhana Media and BTF, Raze has brokered an exclusive partnership with global “fútbol” legend Diego Armando Maradona, to create a scripted series based on the life of one of international sports’ most legendary icons and personalities.
• A soapy young adult-oriented hour-long drama series based on the hit Wattpad novel “Mi Hermanastro” (My Stepbrother), which has over 22 million downloads online.
• Additional projects in development include a series on the life of Latino Hip Hop King “Don Omar.”

“When we began talking about what a modern media company with a Latin edge would look like, it was clear that we had a significant opportunity to create something new and fresh. With such a stellar group of accomplished partners, we are in a unique position to do exactly that on a large scale,” said Calemzuk, co-founder and CEO, Raze. “It is rewarding to be creating stories that reflect the broad array of experiences that Latinos have in the United States and we want Raze to be the home for programming that serves this growing culture.”

“With talent connecting directly with audiences, we have an opportunity to provide a unique and fresh platform to a new generation of mobile-first users that consume video stories with a hearty appetite,” said Balaguer, co-founder, Raze. “Raze will be a great tool for advertisers and products to connect with transforming Latino audiences, and will benefit from the shifting of audiences from traditional platforms to mobile video.”

“The U.S. Hispanic audience is one of the fastest growing and important demographics for programmers and advertisers, and we jumped at the opportunity to work with Sofia, Luis and Emiliano to build a dynamic new media company to create and deliver premium programming to that key demographic,” said Weinstein.

“We are very excited to partner with the Raze team and believe this is a unique opportunity to build an important new media business in the Latin market,” said Terbeek. “The team has a proven ability to create valuable content franchises that resonate with audiences worldwide, and they have developed unparalleled talent relationships in their segment over the last few decades which would be practically impossible to replicate.”

Raze is a media company created to be the voice of today’s multicultural generation which is heavily influenced by Latinos. Redefining how Latin-centered stories are told, Raze develops content for traditional networks and digital providers and will soon have its own mobile video-first destination that will feature news, lifestyle and beauty content. The company was founded by Emiliano Calemzuk, Luis Balaguer and Sofia Vergara with UTA and Ziffren Brittenham LLP as founding partners and advisors. Raze is headquartered in Beverly Hills, Calif.

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Mentioned In This Post: @SofiaVergara