IM Global Taps Phil Gurin to Lead New Unscripted Arm

LOS ANGELES: IM Global Television is launching a new unscripted and alternative programming division, which will be led by producer Phil Gurin.

Gurin will serve as president of unscripted and alternative content. He will report to IM Global Founder and CEO and IM Global Television CEO Stuart Ford. Gurin will lead a team that will create, acquire and co-develop ideas in all unscripted and alternative genres. Eli Shibley, the president of IM Global’s international TV distribution and co-productions operation, and his team will represent international rights to content produced by the new division.

An industry veteran, Gurin has been responsible for executive producing, creating and writing thousands of hours of TV across multiple genres, including live event, game, music, hidden camera, comedy, stunt, clip show, factual, dramatic re-enactment, docusoaps and formatted reality. The Gurin Company, which he founded, will remain and continue to serve as a production company on its existing slate of broadcast and cable shows.

Gurin commented: “The opportunity to build a robust unscripted and alternative studio, backed by the international resources of TMP, IM Global and Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings immediately allows us to compete alongside the biggest players in the unscripted space. We will instantly look to build a strong creative team here in Los Angeles, as well as in London, China and Latin America. We will continue to forge worldwide relationships driven by cutting-edge, adaptable content creation, and we will be opportunistic and responsive to the changing needs of buyers everywhere. Leading the build-up and global expansion of such a well-financed team has been a dream of mine, and I am excited to generate great future success alongside Stuart and his team.”

IM Global Executive Chairman Donald Tang said: “Phil gives IM Global TV a great opportunity to expand our participation beyond conventional unscripted television formats and to help innovate new formats for the global audience. We are excited about our new initiative led by Phil in collaboration with our global partners, including Tencent, CMC, and Huayi Brothers.”

Ford added: “Phil is a hugely respected and experienced figure in the unscripted and alternative content arena and therefore a very important addition to our fast-evolving television studio. Along with our partners at TMP and Tencent we’re very excited to dovetail the phenomenal output of Phil and his team with our existing scripted production, deficit financing and international TV distribution operations.”