Bunim/Murray Productions

Bunim/Murray Productions is an entertainment production company based out of Glendale, California, and is considered a pioneer in the reality television genre. It is best known for The Real World, Road Rules and Bad Girls Club. Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray co-founded Bunim/Murray after agent Mark Itkin of the William Morris Agency put the two together to develop a scripted soap opera for MTV. When that was too expensive, they decided to try an unscripted soap and The Real World was born. "We knew within 20 minutes of shooting that we had a show," Bunim said. The company has expanded into music management, managing the pop punk/emo band A Cursive Memory. In March 2010, the company was acquired by Banijay Entertainment (former name of Banijay Group).

The company's initial success was on the creation of The Real World. Attempts at scripted series, including Jam Bay, a show that would have co-produced with Universal Television for ABC, never went past the pilot stage. On June 28, 1999, the company attempted to enter into the syndication business, by planning on to partner with Columbia TriStar Television Distribution to launch a reality strip Love Hurts. In 2001, Bunim/Murray partnered with Artists Television Group, on the unaired WB television show Lost in the USA, but it was cancelled and it was hit with a $1 million lawsuit. On December 16, 2002, the company announced that they would partner with film studio New Line Cinema on the company's only theatrical project, The Real Cancun.