Banijay’s Bunim/Murray Productions ups key exec trio

L-R: Rupert Dobson, John Greco & Farnaz Farjam

US-based Banijay-owned unscripted studio Bunim/Murray Productions (BMP) has promoted three senior executives under newly appointed president Julie Pizzi.

Pizzi, who joined The Real World producer in February, following the departure of former CEO and chairman Gil Goldschein, has promoted Rupert Dobson to EVP of development, Farnaz Farjam to EVP of current programming and John Greco to COO.

Dobson is a veteran producer who previously served as SVP of development and will now oversee all of the studio’s development efforts, including original entertainment formats for broadcast, cable and premium streaming platforms.

While at BMP, Dobson has developed physical game Cash Back with CJ ENM, as well as upcoming projects with CBS, FOX and Universal Television Alternative Studios.

Prior to joining the company, he served as head of development at A. Smith & Co, where he led on the creation of the Titan Games for NBC and Mental Samurai for Fox, among others. He also served as VP of programming & development at Base Productions, where he developed and produced series such as Fact Or Faked, Haunted Highway and Legend Quest.

Julie Pizzi

Farjam, meanwhile, joined the company in 2003 and served as SVP of entertainment and development. She oversaw series such as Sway Life and Keeping Up With Kardashians, on which she has served as showrunner since its beginning in 2007, as well as all of its spin-offs.

​In her capacity as VP of entertainment, Farjam also oversaw E!’s Total Divas and its spinoff Total Bellas, USA’s Miz & Mrs., Snapchat’s Endless and Facebook’s Ball In The Family. She also was the executive producer/showrunner on Mariah’s World on E!.

Newly promoted COO Greco previously served as EVP of production, having joined BMP in 2008 and going on to oversee hundreds of hours of progamming, including The Real World and The Challenge, and was also key in launching National Geographic’s global live event Earth Live.

In his new role, he will supervise all aspects of production including pre-production, production, and post-production, and oversee human resources and facilities, while continuing to implement systems & policies, develop cost-efficient production solutions, and maintain relationships with network partners.

Prior to BMP, Greco worked as head of production for Ellman Entertainment and Arden Entertainment, managing all content including Growing Up Grizzly starring Brad Pitt, the behind-the-scenes specials for The Lord Of Rings movie franchise, and the Martin Sheen-narrated documentary War Dogs.

“Bunim-Murray has always housed incredible producer talent and we wanted to elevate people from within our team that have contributed immeasurably to our success,” said BMP president Pizzi. “Rupert is a creative force of nature and Farnaz is a gifted story-teller –together they will oversee our creative team and shepherd our projects from development through delivery. And John Greco has helmed our production management team for over a decade and has the experience and expertise to excel in this new role.”