Robert Rodriguez, P. Diddy, Magic Johnson, Said Schwartz Begin 4 New Minority-Owned Indie Networks With Comcast

Robert Rodriguez, FactoryMade Ventures CEO John Fogelman and Cristina Patwa said they are looking to serve a U.S.-born Latino market they believe is underserved with their El Rey Network. It’s one of four new independent networks Comcast announced today that was selected among more than 100 proposals. As part of the news, the El Rey group announced the formation of Tres Pistoleros, which will develop programming for El Rey, creating content across multiple platforms including reality, scripted and animated series as well as movies, documentaries, music, comedy and sports programming. El Rey will primarily be in English and showcase Hispanic producers, celebrities and public figures. ”What we’re going to offer is not currently out there,” Rodriguez told Deadline. “The majority of the players today are doing a fantastic job serving the first generation [of Latinos in America], and what we want to do is serve their offspring.” The trio said they hope to launch by January 2014.

Taking a cue from Spike TV, Rodriguez and Fogelman said programming will be “male-oriented” but something women will enjoy as well. “We want it to be the gold standard for what Hispanic television will be like with adrenaline,” said Fogelman, whose FactoryMade is a hybrid entertainment, media-business development and consulting firm that helps develop and deliver content across multiple platforms worldwide. ”Think about Robert’s films. They happen to be made for the world’s audience, but happen to have Latinos starring. The flavor will have a lot of that Hispanic culture that we see today.” Rodriguez, whose directing credits include Desperado, From Dusk Till Dawn, Spy Kids and Sin City, helped propel the careers of Salma Hayek, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez. He will continue to direct films but said he will take an active daily role in overseeing El Rey and Tres Pistoleros. “This extends the conversation I have with my staff into this realm,” said Rodriguez, who runs a 25-acre studio facility in Austin. Fogelman added that “well-known executives” will be announced in the next couple months to help run the new ventures. Here’s the network’s logo:

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