Mary-Ellis Bunim - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Mary-Ellis Bunim was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

Television producer

The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...

and co-creator of MTV

MTV

MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's The Real World
The Real World
The Real World is a reality television program on MTV originally produced by Mary-Ellis Bunim and Jonathan Murray. First broadcast in 1992, the show, which was inspired by the 1973 PBS documentary series An American Family, is the longest-running program in MTV history and one of the...

and Road Rules
Road Rules
Road Rules was an MTV reality show that debuted on July 19, 1995. The series, which was MTV's second reality show after The Real World followed six strangers between the ages of 18 and 24 after stripping them of their money and putting them on an RV traveling from location to location only guided...

.

Biography

A native of Massachusetts, Bunim began her career in daytime dramas. She oversaw more than 2,500 hours of programming as executive producer of Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow
Search for Tomorrow is an American soap opera which premiered on September 3, 1951 on CBS. The show was moved from CBS to NBC on March 29, 1982. It continued on NBC until the final episode aired on December 26, 1986, a run of thirty-five years. At the time of its final broadcast it was the...

(1974-1981), As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...

(1981-1984), Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara (TV series)
Santa Barbara is an American television soap opera, first broadcast in the United States on NBC on July 30, 1984, and last aired on January 15, 1993. The show revolved around the eventful lives of the wealthy Capwell family of Santa Barbara, California...

(1984-1987) and Loving
Loving (TV series)
Caden Grant Carlton loves Mika Ayako Ryan more.Loving is an American television soap opera which aired on ABC's daytime lineup from June 26, 1983 to November 10, 1995 for 3,169 episodes...

(1989-1990). She subsequently developed numerous shows in her job as VP of tape programs for New World Entertainment.

Bunim founded Bunim-Murray with business partner Jonathan Murray

Jonathan Murray

Jonathan Murray is an American television producer and co-creator of MTV's The Real World, Road Rules, and the Oxygen Network's The Bad Girls Club.-Biography:...

. 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.

Her company, Bunim/Murray Productions

Bunim/Murray Productions

Bunim/Murray Productions is an entertainment production company based out of Van Nuys, California, and is considered a pioneer in the reality television genre. It is best known for The Real World, The Bad Girls Club, and Road Rules...

, spearheaded the reality television

Reality television

Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...

genre. Among the numerous other reality programs that Bunim co-created over the years were Road Rules, Love Cruise, Making the Band, The Real World/Road Rules Challenge
Real World/Road Rules Challenge
The Challenge is a reality television game show on MTV that is both dependent on and spun off from the network's two flagship reality shows, The Real World and the now cancelled series, Road Rules. It is currently hosted by T.J...

, the reality feature film The Real Cancun
The Real Cancun
The Real Cancun is a 2003 American reality film released on April 25, 2003 in the U.S.Inspired by the reality television genre, this film followed the lives of sixteen Americans from March 13 - 23, 2003 as they celebrated spring break in Cancún, Mexico and experienced romantic relationships,...

, the real-life daily syndicated Starting Over, as well as Fox's smash hit, The Simple Life.

She died in Los Angeles at 57, after a lengthy battle with breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

. She is survived by her daughter, Juliana Bunim.

External links

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