Andy DehnartBunim-Murray Productions, the production company best known for The Real World, may replace Magical Elves, the producers of Project Runway, for the fashion design show’s sixth season.
Magical Elves’ Dan Cutforth and Jane Lipsitz quit the show in early May in advance of its move to Lifetime, although they’re currently producing the fifth and final Bravo season.
Bunim-Murray, led by Jonathan Murray, “has been in talks with the Weinstein Co. for weeks,” Variety reports. And while their report says the company “is close to signing on as the new producer,” the article later refers to Lifetime and the Weinstein Company “choosing Bunim-Murray to take over the franchise,” as if it’s already a done deal.
The company has most recently produced crap like Oxygen’s Bad Girls Club and E!’s Keeping Up With the Kardashians and Living Lohan, never mind the aging grandparent of reality shows on MTV. Considering that they’re now taking over the gold standard of competitive reality series, this will be a significant test to see how much a show’s look and feel are dependent upon its production company.
If on the first episode, Tim Gunn says, “Designers, gather round the hot tub,” and the designers proceed to get trashed, take off their clothes, and start hooking up with their models and each other, that’ll be a pretty significant clue that something has changed.