NATPE 2012: Electus Sells 'Fashion Star' to Asia's DIVA Universal Network

Complete Coverage: NATPE 2012

Ben Silverman's Electus has sold its new primetime reality series, Fashion Star, to 20 countries across Asia on the DIVA Universal network, where it will premiere this spring, the company said Tuesday morning (Jan. 24) at NATPE in Miami.

Fashion Star will premiere on NBC on Tuesday, March 13 at 9 p.m. ET. The ten-episode series will be hosted by Elle Macpherson, who is joined by mentors Jessica Simpson, Nicole Richie and John Varvatos. In the show, designers will compete to get their collections launched at Macy's, H&M and Saks Fifth Avenue, three of the country's largest retailers. The show's winner will get to launch a line in each of the stores.

"Fashion Star brings together top undiscovered designers, celebrity mentors and influential retailers in an exciting, new television format that the world has never seen before," said John Pollak, president of Electus International, in a statement. "With this new series, audiences will finally have the opportunity not only to watch, but to actively participate in building the world's next major fashion brand, and we are excited to be premiering this compelling show across Asia with DIVA Universal."

The show is executive produced by Macpherson, Silverman, Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth of The Magical Elves, Rick Ringbakk of 5x5 Media and EJ Johnston and James Deutch of EJD Productions. Electus International retains all international distribution rights.

Paige Albiniak

Contributing editor Paige Albiniak has been covering the business of television for more than 25 years. She is a longtime contributor to Next TV, Broadcasting + Cable and Multichannel News. She concurrently serves as editorial director for The Global Entertainment Marketing Academy of Arts & Sciences (G.E.M.A.). She has written for such publications as TVNewsCheck, The New York Post, Variety, CBS Watch and more. Albiniak was B+C’s Los Angeles bureau chief from September 2002 to 2004, and an associate editor covering Congress and lobbying for the magazine in Washington, D.C., from January 1997 - September 2002.