Mitú Hires David Ortiz to Lead New Long-Form Production Team

Mitú — the Latino-influenced digital media company that reaches 100 million viewers in the U.S. each month — is continuing to beef up its roster, announcing today several hires for its new long-form development, production and talent team.

Spearheading the fresh operation will be David Ortiz (not the former baseball player), who will lead mitú’s scripted and unscripted content strategy. Ortiz joins from EndemolShine USA, where he was a senior vice president in charge of scripted and unscripted content. At Endemol he worked on “Pitbull’s New Year’s Eve Special,” which aired on Fox. Ortiz has also been a development exec at Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures, co-developing projects like “Fast & Furious,” and “Role Models.” He’ll report to Beatriz Acevedo, mitú’s President and co-founder.

“I’m excited to join mitú at a time when Latinos are becoming the leading edge in America,” said Ortiz in a statement. “Our insights and ability to attract and mobilize a massive audience has 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.”

Also Read: YouTube Red and Mitú Debut Multicultural Rom-Com Web Series 'Long Distance'

CEO Herb Scannell, who just took the reins in September, hired two more executives to work alongside Ortiz. Ernie Martinez, who worked for a decade as Director of On Air Programming at Disney, joins as VP of Talent Partnerships. And Raul Celaya, who has been head of production at Astronauts Wanted and Studio 71, will become mitú’s SVP of Content Operations and Production.

“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 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.”

Since 2012, mitú has attracted its young audience with several shows aimed at a multicultural audience. It’s partnered with Snapchat to offer the app’s only Latino-focused Discover channel, and has also launched shows like “Chingo Bling: They Can’t Deport Us All” on Netflix and “What’s Good in Your Hood” on Facebook Watch. Mitú also recently partnered with YouTube Red to create the rom-com “Long Distance.”