For more than two decades, television networks and viewers have looked to Bunim/Murray Productions for groundbreaking, unprecedented and unforgettable reality entertainment. The Emmy® Award-winning company is widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit series "The Real World" (28 seasons for MTV) in 1992. Bunim/Murray continued to innovate with the first reality game show, "Road Rules" (MTV), in 1995; the first reality sitcom, "The Simple Life" (E!), in 2003; and the first reality soap opera, "Starting Over," in 2003.
Bunim/Murray’s current programming includes "Bad Girls Club," "Love Games," "Best Ink" (Oxygen), "Keeping up with the Kardashians," "Kim and Kourtney take Miami," "The Real World" and "The Real World/Road Rules Challenge" (MTV), "Project Runway" and "Project Runway Allstars" (Lifetime). Bunim/Murray Productions has launched additional entities including M Theory Entertainment, BMP Films and M Music. BMP Films produced "Pedro" (MTV) and the Emmy® Award-winning "Autism: The Musical" (HBO). Based in Van Nuys, CA, Bunim/Murray Productions was founded in 1987 by Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim. The company joined Banijay Entertainment in 2010.
Whether documenting the lives and loves of the MTV generation or writing scripted dramas grounded in relatable life experiences, Bunim/Murray is continually expanding its innovative body of work across primetime, syndicated and cable television, feature films, documentary films, broadband and music.
Company Founders Mary-Ellis Bunim, who had worked in soap operas and Jonathan Murray, who had built his career in news and documentaries, first joined forces for "Crime Diaries" (Quintex), a dramatic detective series and "American Families" (FOX), a six-part reality series. Aware that MTV was interested in launching its own soap opera, Bunim and Murray pitched an alternative serial drama that combined the elements of soap opera and documentary – a recipe for what is recognized today as reality television.
The first series based on this original recipe, "The Real World," launched on MTV in June 1992 and chronicled the lives of seven young people living together in a house. The series has since become a part of the world’s cultural DNA. Initially set in a New York City loft, subsequent seasons have been taped in cities including Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Miami, Boston, Seattle, Hawaii, New Orleans, Chicago, Las Vegas, Paris, San Diego, Philadelphia, Austin, Key West, Denver, Sydney, Hollywood, Brooklyn, Cancun, D.C., St. Thomas, and Portland.
In January 2004, Bunim/Murray Co-Founder Mary-Ellis Bunim passed away. Under the leadership of company Co-Founder and Chairman Jonathan Murray and President Gil Goldschein, Bunim/Murray remains committed to the ideals of creativity, adventure and excellence.
"The Real World" and its spin-off "Road Rules" have won numerous honors including a TV Guide Award, a New York Festival medal, Emmy nominations and multiple People’s Choice and Teen Choice awards. "Starting Over" was nominated for two Daytime Emmy® Awards in 2005 and 2006, winning in the category of Outstanding Special Class Series in 2005.
In March 2006, Bunim/Murray launched M Theory Entertainment, a new media spin-off, to develop new content and adapt existing programming for multiple platforms, including micro-sites such as MTV’s "Real World Dailies" and "Challenge Dailies."
In March 2007, Bunim/Murray launched BMP Films. The company’s first film, "Autism: The Musical," premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2007 to critical acclaim and garnered audience awards at major film festivals across the country. The film premiered on HBO in March 2008 to rave reviews and won two Emmys®. In September 2008, BMP Films debuted "Pedro," its first scripted feature-length film, at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In January 2008, Bunim/Murray announced the formation of its own music management division, M Music, signing A Cursive Memory as its first band. The band’s first full length album, Changes, was released on Vagrant Records on February 19, 2008. ACM has been featured in Billboard Magazine and on TMZ.com for its "Bandarazzi" music video, the most watched music video ever to premiere on the MySpace Music site.