Lex Borrero Partners with Tommy Mottola to Acquire Arro Media, Now to Be Called AM16

Posted on June 28, 2023 by Tom Castaneda

Lex Borrero is expanding his entertainment empire…

The Latino music executive and entrepreneur, the co-founder/CEO of Neon 16, has teamed up with Ntertain chairman Tommy Mottola to acquire Arro Media, a music marketing and social media agency that boasts a roster of clients like Adidas, Red Bull, the NFL, Xbox, Bacardi, The Latin Grammy Cultural Foundation and more.

Founded by Cristina Arcay, the company will be rebranded as AM16.

“We have built a growing agency that will redefine how brands connect their marketing and advertising to the Latin culture because we live it day in and day out,” said Borrero and Mottola in a press release. “Our team has a finger on the pulse of trends, uniquely positioned to spot them before they happen, across music, television and film. Today’s announcement further differentiates our capabilities from competitors and will bring an even more comprehensive offering to our clients and partners.”

AM16 will find the intersection among music, entertainment and culture. Together, it will bring Arro’s capabilities with Neon16’s “innovative approach to cultural storytelling and experiential activations,” they said. The merger will include brand strategy and partnerships, product development, content production, music marketing, social media management, digital marketing, public relations, creative design services and experiential events.

“Launching AM16 agency represents an exhilarating new chapter in my career and the future of Arro,” said Arcay, who is appointed as co-president. “As a Latina entrepreneur, being able to lead and learn alongside our new partners represents a huge opportunity to reshape the industry by championing diversity, elevating ideas and fostering cultural movements that resonate with audiences worldwide.”

Chief marketing officer/co-president Gerry Rojas added, “I feel empowered and excited to be working in a Latino-owned agency where we’re reimagining how brands and artists tell their stories authentically, while raising the Latin cultural currency and creating a true, positive impact rooted in music and culture.”

Neon16 works with A-listers such as Tainy, Thalia, Juan Luis Guerra and Danna Paola.

Earlier this year, the company also played a key role in the Netflix Original series La Firma — a Latin music competition that sought to sign the next big Latin music star, featuring Borrero, Tainy, Rauw Alejandro and Nicki Nicole.

Borrero and Mottola also executive-produced Thalia’s music docuseries, Thalia’s Mixtape, via Ntertain on Paramount+.

Mariah Carey Partners with Chopard to Launch “Happy Butterfly” Jewelry Collection

Posted on September 18, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is spreading her wings in celebration of the 25th anniversary reissue of her Butterfly album.

The 53-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer has released a jewelry collection with Swiss luxury designer Chopard.

The “Happy Butterfly” collection includes 12 pieces featuring a butterfly crafted in “ethical rose and white gold” and is described in a release as having a “transparently openworked heart in which a dancing diamond nestles between two sapphire crystals.”

Bangles, pendants, rings, and earrings are available from $6,330 to $23,500.

Chopard is also releasing a one-of-a-kind asymmetrical diamond-paved “Haute Joaillerie” set for its Mariah Carey collection, consisting of a necklace, a pair of earrings, and a ring crafted with round-cut and heart-shaped diamonds and set in 18k white gold, which the brand says is “certified ethical.”

The pieces are co-signed by both the artist and Chopard co-president and artistic director Caroline Scheufele. Price available upon request.

“Mariah and I have been friends for many years and first connected through our love of jewelry and music. She performed at our party in Cannes in 2019, and we had always talked about designing together,” said Scheufele. The house’s creations are worn on red carpets around the world at events such as the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival.

Scheufele described the Chopard “Happy Butterfly” collection as a modern butterfly design paired with Chopard’s iconic “Happy Diamonds,” which are free-floating stones that move around as the wearer does. “Since Mariah has a personal passion for unique pieces, we knew we wanted to do a few one-of-a-kind creations that would be truly exceptional. This led to an extraordinary diamond suite,” Scheufele said.

Carey, who has sold more than 200 million albums with No. 1 hits like “All I Want for Christmas Is You,” sees the butterfly as a metaphor for spreading her wings after her divorce from former manager Tommy Mottola.

She also has a Van Cleef & Arpels butterfly ring.

Rauw Alejandro to Judge Netflix’s Reality Competition Series “La Firma”

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Rauw Alejandro is on the hunt for new urban talent…

The 29-year-old Puerto Rican singer and rapper, known as the “King of Modern Reggaeton,” and fellow reggaeton star Yandel are among the Latin artists helping Netflix in their search for the next Latin urban music star in the reality competition series, La Firma.

The duo will be joined by Nicki Nicole and Lex Borrero as judges of the competition, while super-producer Tainy will serve as mentor and music producer/supervisor.

The search will take place across Latin America, the United States, and Spain.

In the series, viewers will follow the journeys of the selected artists as they head to Miami for the competition.

The winner will sign with talent incubator NEON16.

La Firma was created by Borrero, developed by Howard T. Owens and showrunner Nikki Boella, and produced by Propagate and NTERTAIN, which was founded by Borrero, Tommy Mottola, and Range Media Partners.

Mariah Carey Leaves Roc Nation for Management Representation with Range Media Partners

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is expanding her range…

The 52-year-old half-Venezuelan Grammy-winning singer/songwriter has departed Roc Nation and partnered with Range Media Partners for management.

Carey will work with Melissa Ruderman, her former rep at Roc Nation who joined Range Media in January.

Carey’s move to Range Media follows a report in U.K. tabloid The Sun that the singer and Roc Nation founder Jay-Z fell out following an “explosive meeting.”

Carey, who signed with Roc Nation in November 2017, subsequently set out to quell the rumor by tweeting, “The only ‘explosive’ situation I’d ever ‘get into’ with Hov is a creative tangent, such as our #1 song ‘Heartbreaker.’”

Ruderman and Carey’s relationship goes back over 15 years, when Ruderman worked for manager Benny Medina and handled day-to-day management for Carey during the release cycle for her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi.

During her five-year stint at Roc Nation, Ruderman helped execute several major deals for Carey, including two consecutive residencies at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace, a TV deal with Apple and a publishing contract that led to the publication of the New York Times-bestselling memoir The Meaning of Mariah Carey.

Carey has had a long list of managers over the years. Before signing with Roc Nation, she was with Stella Bulochnikov and, before that, Kevin Liles, with whom she signed in 2014 following the dissolution of her management relationship with longtime collaborator Jermaine Dupri. At various points earlier in her career, Carey was managed by ex-husband Tommy Mottola, Randy Jackson and Red Light Management.

Range Media Partners was launched in Sept. 2020 by former Entertainment One chief strategy officer Peter Micelli and a coalition of former CAA, WME and UTA agents.

Camilo to Appear on Ntertain’s Original Docu-Series “Los Montaner”

Posted on April 19, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

Camilo will be spending a lot of time with the in-laws…

The 27-year-old Colombian singer, songwriter and record producer, whose full name is Camilo Echeverry, will appear in the original series Los Montaner.

Hailing from Ntertain, the recently launched multimedia company from Neon16’s Lex Borrero, music mogul Tommy Mottola and Range Media Partners, the unscripted docu-series will offer an exclusive look inside Latin music’s influential family, the Montaners, who have a social media audience of over 150 million and over eight billion video content views.

Borrero will executive produce the series, with Range Media Partners co-financing the project, handling global sales of the series. The series will film globally, as the crew follows the daily life of the Montaner family.

Featured on Los Montaner are:

Multiple Latin Grammy nominee & Lifetime Achievement Award recipient Ricardo Montaner
Marlene Rodriguez, Ricardo’s wife, and filmmaker
Award-winning recording artist and member of Mau y Ricky, Ricky Montaner
Actress, model, and TV host, Stefi Roitman, fiance of Ricky Montaner
Award-winning recording artist and member of Mau y Ricky, Mau Montaner
Sara Escobar, creative director, wife of Mau Montaner
Actress, singer, songwriter, Evaluna Montaner
Camilo Echeverry, Evaluna’s husband and Latin Grammy winning singer, songwriter.

Ntertain was founded earlier this month as a new entertainment and media company focusing on the creation, development, and production of premier content leaning in on Latin talent, brands and culture.

Andy Cohen’s Book Imprint to Publish Mariah Carey Memoir

Posted on November 8, 2019 by Tom Castaneda

Mariah Carey is getting her word out…

A memoir by the 49-year-old half-Venezuelan American Grammy-winning singer is on the list of titles from Andy Cohen Books.

Henry Holt and Company announced this week that Cohen’s self-named imprint will launch in 2020. It says the imprint will feature three non-fiction works by women.

Carey’s memoir will be about her journey to superstar status.

She rose to fame in the early 1990s after signing to Columbia Records and releasing her eponymous debut album, which topped the U.S. Billboard 200 for eleven consecutive weeks. Soon after, Carey became the only artist ever to have their first five singles reach number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, from “Vision of Love” to “Emotions“.

Following her marriage to Sony Music head Tommy Mottola, Carey achieved worldwide success with follow-up albums Music Box, Merry Christmas, and Daydream.

The other works are The Queen V, by Dr. Jacqueline Waters, a cast member on Bravo’s Married to Medicine, and Bodacious Dreamsand Bevelations, by Bevy Smith, a former co-host of Page Six TV.

Cohen is the TV producer behind the Real Housewives Bravo franchise and host of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.

Holt is the publisher of Cohen’s three best sellers: Most Talkative, The Andy Cohen Diaries and Superficial.

The imprint was announced in 2016.

Thalia Directing the HBO Documentary Series “15: A Quinceañera Story”

Posted on November 4, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Thalia is shining a spotlight on a special rite of passage four young Latinas…

The 46-year-old Mexican Latin Grammy-winning singer and actress is directing the HBO special, 15: A Quinceañera Story, alongside Emmy winner Matthew O’Neill.

The collection of four short documentary films will debut on the premium cable channel on December 19-22.

Thalia’s husband, music industry veteran Tommy Mottola, is executive producing the project.

The films follow five Latina girls from different cultural, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds as they transition to adulthood, all observing the traditional rite of passage of the quinceañera, a celebration of their 15th birthdays.

The short films will premiere on four consecutive nights, airing simultaneously on HBO and HBO Latino. O’Neill and Xochitl Dorsey also produced, along with HBO’s senior producer Sara Bernstein and executive producer Sheila Nevins.

“As a Latina, I’m proud to share our culture and shine a spotlight on these dynamic, talented and beautiful young women featured in these four films,” Thalia Sodi said in a statement. “These young women are fierce and determined and represent the rising generation of American Latinas who are helping define the future of our country,” added Mottola.

“The featured young women are examples of the breadth and diversity of the Latina experience in America,” commented O’Neill. “We’re proud to celebrate them and their communities as they contend with the complicated realities of growing up in America today.”

The quinceañera girls profiled include Zoey, a young Mexican-American living south of Los Angeles who was assigned male gender at birth and celebrates with her trans-madrinas (godmothers) who never had quinceañeras of their own; and Rosi, an American growing up in Florida with a mother from Guatemala and a father from Cuba, who combines all three of her cultures for a quinceañera in Havana, where she chooses to celebrate because her beloved grandfather cannot get a visa to the U.S.

Also profiled is Ashley, an amateur East L.A. boxer whose mother is a “Dreamer” and whose father has been deported. Nervous about her quinceañera and her first official fight, she also struggles with the reality that her coach is undergoing deportation procedures. The final film centers on Jackie and Nina, two best friends from San Antonio, who decide to honor their multi-generational Mexican American heritage by mixing their joint quince with their love of escaramuza, a traditional Mexican horse-dancing display.

Jennifer Lopez & Shakira Among the Featured Artists in HBO’s Latin Music-Themed Doc “The Latin Explosion: A New America”

Posted on September 8, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Ready to get a history lesson in Latin music movement in the United States? Then don’t miss a special documentary from HBO.

HBO’s documentary film The Latin Explosion: A New America will debut Monday, November 16 on HBO and HBO Latino and simulcast in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Created and executive produced by music mogul Tommy Mottola, The Latin Explosion: A New America celebrates the artists and visionaries who have exploded onto the U.S. music scene and gone on to become global superstars, from Desi Arnaz to Romeo Santos.

The film shows how those acts have influenced every aspect of American society, from culture to politics to the economy.

The film ranges from the cha-cha and mambo crazes of the ‘50s, with Arnaz and Rita Moreno, and the edgier ‘60s, reflected by Carlos Santana and Jose Feliciano, to the exciting new sound of salsa in the ‘70s and the emergence of superstars Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan in the ‘80s.

The film also spotlights the Latino boom of the late ‘90s, led by Ricky Martin, Shakira, Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez, and today’s hottest stars, Pitbull and Santos.

Some of the featured artists discuss how their crossover hits have played a role in defining the American experience, setting the stage for today’s Latin Explosion.

Other artists featured include Eva Longoria, George Lopez, Los Lobos, Cheech Marin, Thalía and Sofía Vergara. John Leguizamo is the narrator.

“We have assembled the largest array of Latino superstars ever in a film telling a powerful story of their history and immigration, politics, and rise from a small minority population to the most critical demographic in the United States,” comments Mottola.

The Latin Explosion: A New America is directed and produced by Matthew O’Neill and Jon Alpert.

Introducing Thalia’s New Man!

Posted on September 21, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

It’s no wonder Thalía is all smiles on the latest cover of Spanish-language magazine, Hola! She’s showing off one of her “greatest hits,” her newborn son Matthew Alejandro Mottola.

The 40-year-old Mexican singer/actress, who gave birth to little Matthew on June 25, couldn’t be happier.

“I have never been so crazy in love with a man,” Thalía confessed.

Matthew appears all wide-eyed in his mother’s arms on the cover of the weekly Spanish-language magazine.

He’s Thalía’s second child with her music producer husband Tommy Mottola. The pair have a daughter, 3-year-old Sabrina Sakaë.

“I know my son was born a gladiator because his first battle against pain, distress and loss was something he lived through in my belly during the last month of my pregnancy with the death of my mother,” the telenovela star says of her son. Thalia’s mom died of heart disease earlier this way. Shortly after, she expressed her grief on Twitter.

“Half of my soul has died today… I feel as if I’m dying slowly… thank you for your prayers for my warrior, for my mother,” the singer tweeted.

So could three-month-old Matthew be destined for a career in music? Possibly!

“He loves to listen to mambo and sleeps to the music, so I play Pérez-Prado and it’s done!” says Thalía, who is hard at work on a new album. “I love it because he came out like my grandmother, she loved to listen to mambo every day.”

Although she’d like to have another child in the near future, Thalía wants to finish up some of her current projects, including her work on a new album and autobiography.

Cover image courtesy of Hola! magazine.

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