A documentary about the Atlanta music scene and a music competition program called “Take the Lead” are two projects in development through a new partnership between L.A. Reid and Charles Goldstuck’s Hitco Entertainment and Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Media Group. The teaming calls for the two companies to develop and produce music-focused projects for distribution across multiple platforms.
Craig Piligian founded Pilgrim Media Group in the late-1990s and for the past two decades it has become known for producing a wide range of programming ranging from the scripted to unscripted, and across platforms. In 2015 Pilgrim Media launched 1620 Media, a unique digital video platform that also provides production services. Just a month later Lionsgate bought a $200 million stake in the company.
Hitco is home to Outkast’s Big Boi, Fifth Harmony’s Dinah Jane and newcomer rappers SAINt JHN and Yella Beezy. Its founders, industry veterans L.A. Reid and Charles Goldstuck, describe the company’s visions as a return “to the fundamentals of hit-making.”
For the untitled documentary project, Reid, who first rose to prominence in Atlanta where he founded LaFace Records, will join other notables from the scene in chronicling the ascent of hip hop and R&B music in the city. Artists to emerge from Atlanta include TLC, Usher, Ludacris, Guvvi Mane, Lil Yachty and Migos, among others.
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Little has been revealed about “Take the Lead” other than it’s a “music competition format that aims to build the next major music act.” Reid served as a judge on the U.S. version of “The X-Factor” which aired for two seasons on Fox.
Said Reid and Goldstuck in announcing the teaming: “We’re beyond thrilled to partner with Craig and the innovative content creators at Pilgrim. Given their diverse portfolio of programming and Craig’s unparalleled experience as an industry pioneer, we’re looking forward to the launch of our television business, which we see as a continuation of our many years of experience developing and producing cross-platform content.”
Said Piligian, “In all respects, L.A. and Charles have each made a tremendous impact on music. We are excited to be working with them to push the boundaries of the music programming genre with these projects and more to come.”
Hitco is distributed through EMPIRE, the independent company which helped propel such hits as D.R.A.M.’s “Broccoli” featuring Lil Yachty, and Fat Joe and Remy Ma’s “All the Way Up.”
Pilgrim Media is known for “Fast N’ Loud,” “American Chopper,” “Street Outlaws” and its spinoffs, “Misfit Garage,” “Garage Rehab” and “Shifting Gears with Aaron Kaufman” for Discovery; “Wicked Tuna” and its spinoff for National Geographic; “My Big Fat Fabulous Life” for TLC; “The Ultimate Fighter” for FS1; “Bring It!” and “Love at First Flight” for Lifetime; “Battlefish” for Netflix; “Zombie House Flipping” for FYI and “The Boy Band Con: The Lou Pearlman Story” for YouTube Premium.