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Cris Abrego and Eva Longoria Unite to Create Hyphenate Media Group

Groundbreaking new venture will invest in creator-led production companies and develop its own slate of originals. By: Wee Yan Ling

Entertainment industry leader and entrepreneur Cris Abrego and acclaimed director and producer, Eva Longoria, have jointly revealed their new media holding company and premium content studio, Hyphenate Media Group.

The venture will support creator-driven projects and churn out individual content. Cris Abrego will serve as the CEO and Longoria will serve as the Chief Creative Officer. Media and entertainment powerhouse Banijay, headed by Chairman Stéphane Courbit and CEO Marco Bassetti, and with Cris Abrego as Chairman of the Americas since 2020, has made a strategic investment to boost the company's growth.

Having collaborated for two decades, Abrego and Longoria have rooted out a number of creator-led enterprises with proven leadership and the potential to scale and will dedicate the initial phase of Hyphenate Media Group’s growth to cultivating a portfolio of partners.

As the industry finds itself at an inflection point, Hyphenate offers an alternative model, supporting creator-entrepreneurs as they build their own production companies and develop a slate of projects to sell independently. The new venture will drive the creative output and deal-making capacity of each partnered company through capital investment, brand development, and the collaborative advantage and infrastructure provided by Hyphenate’s core leadership team.

Hyphenate Media Group will leverage its co-founders’ commitment to address the industry’s urgent demand for ground-breaking premium content with an inclusive approach and broad appeal. As a destination for visionary multi-hyphenate creator-entrepreneurs, Hyphenate is poised to provide the entertainment industry with a business solution by enabling a multiplicity of connections to audiences around its different brands.

Cris Abrego, Co-Founder and CEO, Hyphenate Media Group: “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. 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 and Marco for many years, and I am grateful to count on their support and investment in this next chapter.”

Eva Longoria, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Hyphenate Media Group: “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. 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.”

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