El Rey Network to Premiere Two New Unscripted Series in 2017

El Rey Network, the English-language lifestyle network targeting "Strivers," will air two original unscripted series in the first half of 2017, "Man at Arms" and "Rite of Passage". Both series were announced today by network president and general manager, Daniel Tibbets.

"As we expand our slate of original programming, we are looking for series that are reflective of the interests, hobbies and lives of our audience; content that's driven by characters that are representative of how they live, work and play," said Tibbets. "Both 'Man at Arms' and 'Rite of Passage' explore tradition, craft and ritual... and feature characters who are making their own paths, in addition to being wildly entertaining. These are all tenets that our viewers can relate to and enjoy."

El Rey Network will bring the popular and celebrated digital series "Man at Arms" to television in a co-production deal with DEFY Media, the studio that created "Man at Arms". EL REY NETWORK has ordered eight original, one-hour episodes of the series. Iconic weapons and armor have played a starring role in some of the most memorable scenes in movie history and can be found throughout pop culture, from movies to video games to comics to TV shows. In each episode of "Man at Arms", a team of expert craftsmen skillfully reproduce famed weapons and armor from scratch, using both the technology that would have been available at the time such weapons and armor were originally created, as well as state-of-the-art technologies beyond the original forgers' wildest imaginations, to create historical, modern, and mythological works of martial art. Each masterwork is then tested by experts for its strength and real-world functionality. Whether it slices, shoots, smashes, stabs, blocks, parries, or disarms, viewers will get a first-hand look at what kind of force each marvelous masterpiece can unleash. DEFY Media's award-winning digital series, which recently celebrated its 100th episode, consistently averages over 1.5MM views per episode and has built a vast and passionate fan community.

"Man at Arms" will be produced by DEFY, led by heads of Television/OTT Production and Development Jared Hoffman and Chris Pollack, Chief Content Officer Barry Blumberg, and El Rey Network. Hoffman and Pollack will also serve as series executive producers and showrunners.

The deal was brokered by David Sherman at WME.

"Rite of Passage" features multi-award winning Australian producer, reporter and cameraman, Tim Noonan, who embarks on a journey of self-discovery as he tries to unlock what it means to be a man. In this 12-part documentary series, Noonan seeks out communities in the world's harshest locales, immersing himself in the culture, and participating in the extreme rituals that define the transition to manhood. Noonan finds himself taming a wild bucking bronco, amongst the anaconda INFESTED plains of Venezuela, bonding with tribesman of the Siberian Tundra, venturing out on a dangerous crocodile hunt on the Bijagos Islands of Guinea Bissau, and in Cameroon, West Africa, crawling headfirst into the lair of a giant rock python to wrestle the monster snake from its den. Ultimately he discovers that no matter where we are, there are common themes to which we can all relate. "Rite of Passage" is produced by Seven Productions, a division of The Seven Network in Australia

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