Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.
Banijay Group is the world's largest independent content creation Group for television and multimedia platforms. Banijay Group is present in 16 territories.

Tag Archive: President

  1. Julie Pizzi Named President, Bunim/Murray Productions

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    Veteran producer and longtime executive Julie Pizzi has been named President, Bunim/Murray Productions, it was announced today by Cris Abrego, Chairman of the Americas, Banijay, and President and CEO, Endemol Shine Holdings.

     

    Pizzi, who formerly served as President of Entertainment and Development at Bunim/Murray, has led both development and production during her career at the Banijay-owned studio that first started in 1998.

     

    Bunim/Murray Productions was originally founded in 1987 and is behind such ground-breaking unscripted series as The Real World, Road Rules, Keeping Up With The Kardashians and The Challenge. Earlier this month, Paramount+ announced it had ordered a new season of The Real World that will include members of the original cast that first aired on MTV.

     

    Last November, Bunim/Murray Productions was put under the purview of Abrego, who now oversees nine different Banijay-owned studios across North and Latin America, including Endemol Shine North America.

     

    “Julie brings a wealth of unscripted production experience to her new role and has been a part of the Bunim/Murray family for more than 20 years, making her the ideal candidate to lead the studio into the next decade,” says Abrego. “Bunim/Murray is one of the true pioneers in the unscripted industry and thanks to Julie and many others, it has a tremendous amount of momentum with numerous new ground-breaking series on the way.”

     

    “I started my career at Bunim/Murray and was mentored by its founders, the late Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray,” says Pizzi. “I have incredible admiration for the company they created and it’s important for me to continue to build on what they built in both nurturing creativity and developing content that is both innovative and entertaining.”

    Pizzi added, “At the same time, look forward to working with Cris Abrego, his team and Banijay globally as we shepherd Bunim/Murray into its next successful chapter. Cris is an industry leader, who also worked at BMP during the company’s early years. He understands the uniqueness of the company, the brand and its culture.”

     

    Pizzi has more than 20 years of experience producing hundreds of hours of unscripted television. While serving as President of Entertainment and Development, she had creative and development responsibility for all of Bunim/Murray’s format series and increasing the development of original formats.

     

    Most recently, she developed and served as Executive Producer on Bill Nye Saves the World for Netflix and was one of the first partners with Facebook to launch the Ball In The Family series on their Watch platform. Pizzi also developed and led production on The Real World Thailand, Mexico and Atlanta for Facebook, Snapchat’s first docu-series Endless, Kim Kardashian West—The Justice Project for Oxygen and Family or Fiance´ for OWN.

     

    Previously, ​Pizzi served as Creative Vice President and Showrunner at Bunim/Murray for six years, where she spearheaded development and executive produced high-rated seasons of Road Rules and Real World/Road Rules Challenge (MTV), as well as Born to Diva (VH1). And Pizzi has continued to oversee the hit Challenge franchise for MTV, which is going into its 37th season.

     

    In 2004, Pizzi left Bunim/Murray to launch award-winning reality and documentary company, PB&J Television. As Co-President of PB&J, Pizzi executive produced Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Model Search (NBC), Reversal of Fortune (Showtime), America’s Prom Queen (ABC Family), Bad Sex (LOGO), as well as four seasons of the hit Dress My Nest (Style).

     

    Pizzi, who returned to head up development at Bunim/Murray in 2015, has produced many hours of programming for MTV, Facebook, Snapchat, Netflix, E!, Showtime, Paramount +, USA, Oxygen, OWN, HGTV, SYFY, NBC, FOX, Travel Channel, A&E, VH1, CMT, ABC Family, Style, Lifetime, The CW, TLC and Discovery.

     

  2. Banijay Elevates Cris Abrego to Top Americas Role

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    Banijay, the world’s leading unscripted producer and distributor, today announces the final structure for its operations across the Americas, with Cris Abrego stepping up in a new overarching role. As Chairman of the Americas, Banijay, and President and CEO, Endemol Shine Holdings, he will now have principal responsibility for North America and Latin America, reporting to Chief Executive Officer, Marco Bassetti.

     

    A renowned U.S.-based content leader, Abrego previously served as CEO, Endemol Shine North America and Chairman, Endemol Shine Americas, having taken up the positions in 2016. Originally joining Endemol Shine North America in 2014 as CO-CEO, he, in 2016, was given added oversight of the company’s Latin American operations as Co-Chairman, Endemol Shine Americas. Former co-founder and chief executive of Endemol Shine-owned studio 51 Minds Entertainment, he is one of the leading creators and producers of reality television in the U.S., recognized globally for pioneering the celeb-reality genre. Most recently, he led the successful launch of production labels in both Brasil and Mexico for Endemol Shine, as well as a push into Spanish-language programming in the U.S. and across Latin America.

     

    Steeped in critical acclaim, Abrego’s new footprint is behind hit titles including Big Brother (CBS), MasterChef (FOX), Lego Masters (FOX), The Real Housewives of Atlanta (Bravo), Keeping up with the Kardashians (E!), Utopia (Amazon Prime Video), Ball in the Family (Facebook Watch), T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle (VH-1) and the upcoming return of Wipeout (TBS). Spanish-language triumphs to date include Mira Quién Baila (Univision), LOL: Last One Laughing (Amazon), ¿Quién Es La Máscara?(Televisa), MasterChef Mexico (Azteca), Tu Cara Me Suena (Univison), MasterChef Brazil(Bandeirantes/Discovery), All Together Now (Teen) (Record), Extreme Makeover Home Edition (GNT/Globo), Game of Clones (Amazon/Record) and Súbete a Mi Moto (Amazon).

     

    “Cris has long been a significant figurehead in the US content ecosystem. Respected, creatively triumphant and a driver of positive change, he has all the qualities to strategically and effectively lead one of our largest territories,” said Marco Bassetti. “With nine labels split across North and Latin America, spanning everything from entertainment to scripted, he has oversight of some of the region’s most celebrated IP and we’ve no doubt our pipeline and reputation will only soar under his leadership.”

     

    “I am truly excited about this new role and the opportunity that it allows me and our team to continue building on the tremendous momentum we’ve created at Endemol Shine over the last five years across North America and Latin America,” says Abrego. “I’m also looking forward to working closely with Marco and our new Banijay colleagues here in the U.S. and around the globe. Together we are now home to many of the biggest titles in our industry and our teams are currently developing the hits of tomorrow.”

     

    Abrego’s full portfolio of award-winning businesses now includes Endemol Shine North America,Bunim/Murray Productions, Authentic Entertainment, Truly Original, 51 Minds Entertainment, Stephen David Entertainment and YellowBird US. He will also have full oversight of Endemol Shine Latino, the company’s Spanish-language sales and development arm that leads all original programming initiatives across Latin America, including Mexico City-based studio Endemol Shine Boomdog and Endemol Shine Brasil in Sao Paulo. Banijay Studios North America will continue to be run independently by President and CEO, David Goldberg.

     

    As one of the highest-ranking Latinos in television, Abrego has made inclusion a top priority for his team at Endemol Shine and across the entire entertainment industry – he will continue to drive this narrative across his broadened remit.

  3. Norwegian Prime Minister to play All Against 1 on NRK

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    Norwegian PM Erna Solberg will play against the nation in a special episode of All Against 1 on Norway’s national day, May 17th. The Høyre/conservative party leader will compete against the viewers as a usual player, solving tasks and experiments themed for the national day.

     

    All Against 1 season 3 has already succeeded in gathering Norwegian families this winter, with an average share of 53% and 817,000 viewers every Saturday. Staying on-air during the Covid-19 crisis, production made some creative adjustments in line with the new regulations and post-lockdown, the ratings went up.

     

    May 17th has always been a day where families and communities gather to walk in parades, eat lots of ice cream and play fun games like the potato run, sack race and tug of war. In this special episode, the Prime Minister will face experiments and challenges inspired by these games and even more importantly: the families can gather around the TV and still get a piece of the national day fun, regardless of the corona restrictions.

     

    Erlend Hernø Røeggen, CEO in Nordisk Film TV Norway said: “It’s great news and so exciting! Hats off to the team that managed to pull this season off against the odds, showing that it’s still possible to gather families around the TV at the weekend. The prime minister’s appearance in the show confirms the status and the strength of All Against 1, even in challenging times.”

     

    All Against 1 was co-developed by Nordisk Film TV Norway and Nordisk Film TV Denmark. Banijay Rights sells the format and finished tape globally. There have been six versions of the show to date worldwide.