It’s a nuvo day for Jennifer Lopez…
The 43-year-old Puerto Rican multi-hyphenate is partnering with nuvoTV to develop new programming behind the scenes and on camera with the English-language cable channel targeting Latinos.
The former American Idol judge will also be involved in marketing strategies at nuvoTV, where she’s a part owner.
The channel was launched in 2004, and last year changed its name from Si TV to nuvoTV.
“I teamed up with them because I felt that there’s a real, great opportunity to do something that has not yet been done,” Lopez told The Hollywood Reporter. “Thinking about myself growing up as a Puerto Rican girl in the Bronx, speaking English as my first language, and knowing that there was really nothing on TV for me! I remember very clearly, like on Sesame Street, Luis and Maria, the Spanish couple, or going to movies and loving West Side Story and that being a huge influence on my life to become an artist because there were Puerto Ricans in it.”
As part of the deal, Lopez—one of the world’s most powerful women—aims to introduce high-level, HBO-style films to the channel as well as scripted and unscripted series. In the works: a backstage docu-series on her upcoming European concert tour with co-headliner Enrique Iglesias, slated to air in early 2013. A reality show about Lopez’s backup dancers (including her beau, Casper Smart) is being considered.
Lopez’s goal: to create content similar to that found on BET, where the quality of the programming goes well-beyond the core audience.
“It’s not an easy sell to go sell a Latino story to a network about a whole Latino family … even in the movies,” she said. “And at the end of the day, that’s content that we’re going to be looking for. There is a place now to go for that. … We’re dedicated to improving the content that’s there, making it even better and, at the same time, creating new content that’s gonna be entertaining.”
Lopez’s work with nuvoTV isn’t expected to affect her deals with other channels; earlier this year, she sold an English-language version of her Univision competition series Q’Viva!, The Chosen to Fox, where it aired earlier this year.
Last month ABC Family ordered a pilot for a potential new series Lopez is executive producing currently called The Fosters, a one-hour drama revolving around a multi-ethnic family mix of foster and biological kids being raised by two moms.
“I still have a lot of other shows that I’m developing with other networks, ABC, Fox … that’s not gonna stop,” she noted. “I’m gonna continue to be producing. I just might put them all on nuvo now.”
