MTV Entertainment Studios and producer Lashan Browning have launched Antoinette Media, a full-service production company.
The joint venture, which Browning owns a majority stake in, will produce a deep and wide-ranging slate that spans unscripted titles, documentaries, scripted features and star-driven digital formats.
Antoinette Media is supported by a “substantial equity investment” from MTV’s parent company Paramount Global.
In 2020, Showtime and MTV Entertainment Studios Chief Creative Officer and President of Content Nina Diaz tapped Browning to fuel the growth of content led and produced by BIPOC- and women-owned production companies. The innovative partnership provides funding, production infrastructure, services and staff to develop top-quality content and producers.
“Lashan Browning is a trailblazing powerhouse and seminal creator who is an integral part of our success at MTV Entertainment Studios,” Diaz said in a statement. “I am thrilled that we will continue to make culture-shifting content together – in scripted and unscripted – and elevate and invest in a creative hitmaker whose range and distinct storytelling voice will continue to enrich this industry.”
Browning is currently producing seven series for MTV Entertainment Studios through the Antoinette Media banner, including “Love & Hip Hop Atlanta,” “Love & Hip Hop Miami,” “Love & Hip Hop Family Reunion,” “Couples Retreat,” “Caught in the Act: Unfaithful,” “Shaunie & Keion: Destination I Do” and “Run It Back.” Additionally, Browning has both scripted and unscripted projects currently in development across the partnership with MTV Entertainment Studios.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for producers, as both the quality and quantity of content continue to climb to new heights,” Browning said in a statement. “Antoinette Media’s launch, along with Paramount’s valued backing, empower us to further build an already extensive body of work and move forward as industry leaders in the production of high-quality, commercial content across genres and formats.”
Prior to forming Antoinette Media, Browning served as principal of Nola Global Entertainment, producing content for networks including Bravo, OWN, Discovery, Lifetime and Oxygen, and creating and producing such unscripted hits as TLC’s “Starter Wives Confidential.” Browning learned the ins and outs of filmmaking under the legendary Spike Lee, with whom she co-produced iconic TV spots for Nike and Levi’s. She made her foray in television at the Oxygen Network, which she helped launch in 1999 under the stewardship of mentor Gayle King, during the tenure of Oprah Winfrey.
Previously, in her role as co-principal of Red Moxie Productions with veteran TV producer Monica J. Taylor, Browning conceptualized and executive produced “Ride with Funkmaster Flex,” the multi-season flagship hit that launched Spike TV. In 2001, Browning earned critical praise for writing and executive producing Lifetime’s “Intimate Portrait: Missy Elliott,” a documentary tracing the Grammy-winning rapper’s rise from poverty and sexual abuse to worldwide superstardom.
Browning is represented by Greenberg Traurig, which negotiated the Antoinette Media deal with Paramount’s MTV Entertainment Studios, and WME.
