Nippon TV Aligns with U.S. Venture for New Formats

TOKYO/LOS ANGELES: Japanese broadcaster Nippon Television Network Corporation (NTV) is teaming with Hollywood-based Lighthearted Entertainment—led by Howard Schultz—to jointly develop, produce and distribute new formats for the international market.

The first collaboration between the two companies is All or Nothing. Schultz, the president and CEO of Lighthearted—whose credits include FOX’s Moment of Truth and MTV’s Next!—commented: "We are excited about our new relationship with NTV because it enables us to work together on projects from inception through the premiere. As we continue to expand our work with other global partners, this relationship enables us to not only create new formats but produce them and test them at a very low cost threshold. Rather than developing a concept for a specific audience and then trying to figure out how to make it attractive to other cultures, we will work together from the beginning to ensure that the projects are relevant—from a creative and marketing perspective—to audiences around the world."

The deal between NTV and Lighthearted Entertainment was brokered by International Creative Management, which represents both entities.