Ortiz named Head of Development at mitú

Herb Scannell, the recently appointed CEO of mitú, announced a new long-form development, production and talent team to be led by accomplished creative executive David Ortiz. Ortiz will report to Beatriz Acevedo, mitú’s President and co-founder.

As head of mitú’s newly restructured team, Ortiz oversees mitú’s scripted and unscripted content strategy, development slate and talent partnerships. Previously, Ortiz served as an SVP at EndemolShine USA where he developed scripted, unscripted and digital content, most notably three successful seasons of “Pitbull’s New Year’s Eve Special” on Fox. Prior to that, he oversaw development at Vin Diesel’s One Race Films, and worked as a development executive at Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Highlights in his career include co-developing “Fast & Furious,” “Hellboy 2,” “Syriana,” “Role Models” and “Riddick.”

“I’m excited to join mitú at a time when Latinos are becoming the leading edge in America,” Ortiz said. “Our insights and ability to attract and mobilize a massive audience have created a demand for us to double down on investments in original series and character IP. Young Latinos want to see their stories being told and mitú is uniquely positioned to become the voice of this generation.”

In addition to Ortiz, mitú expanded its production and talent teams to include the following executives.

•     Ernie Martinez, a former 10-year Director of On Air Programming at Disney, joins mitú as Vice President of Talent Partnerships and will be responsible for developing a roster of A-list and emerging talent.
•     Raul Celaya, a 20-year production executive joins mitú as SVP of Content Operations and Production. Previously he was head of production at Astronauts Wanted and Studio 71.

“Beatriz and I are extremely excited to begin building a robust long-form and scripted content pipeline that solidifies our place as the voice of Latino youth in America,” said Herb Scannell. “The addition of these talented executives to Beatriz’s team is just the first step in that process. Our goal is to bring to life the rich ‘stories of us’ that are not being told by mainstream media today.”

Added Acevedo: “Latinos are the new American mainstream, yet we represent less than six percent of speaking roles in media. It’s baffling that we are so invisible in this country, even when our contributions to its economy and culture are so tangible. At mitú, we are committed to supporting and empowering the next generation of Latino content creators, to tell our stories and put us where we belong, front and center in American pop culture.”