Timberlake gets MTV producer job

Timberlake also has a record label and has co-founded a fashion line

Singer Justin Timberlake is to be the producer for a new reality game show on MTV, network bosses have said.

The programme is based on a Dutch production and begins each time with two hidden mobiles ringing in different locations of a big city.

Last month, production company Reveille Studios also said Timberlake was producing a comedy TV pilot for them.

Timberlake is best known for his singing career in boy band N'Sync and now as solo artist.

He has also appeared in several films, including Alpha Dog and Black Snake Moan as well as voicing a character in Shrek the Third.

In the MTV show called The Phone, contestants who answer the mobiles will have five seconds to decide if they want to play the game for a cash prize.

A guide on the other end of the line then gives them a mission to complete before time runs out.

MTV executive vice-president Tony Disanto described the show as "genre-busting".

"Reinvention is at the core of what we do, and The Phone does just that. Each week will be an action-packed mini-movie," he added.

The show will be produced by reality specialist FremantleMedia North America and will begin in the US in the autumn.

Grammy award-winner Timberlake's other ventures include his own record label, launched last year, and co-founding the William Rast fashion line with friend Trace Ayala.