Pilgrim Films and Television was founded in 1997 by television producer Craig Piligian. Piligian, who began his career in the news business, first became a producer of non-scripted programming in 1991, with the shows Emergency Call and Real Stories of the Highway Patrol. With more than 625 episodes produced, Real Stories became the first successful launch and sustained production of a syndicated reality strip.
Initially, Pilgrim Films and Television focused on producing documentary programming for the Discovery Channel. An early special on the inner workings of the Central Intelligence Agency (Inside the CIA) did so well for the network that it commissioned from Pilgrim many more specials on the subject, including the highly rated CIA Files, CIA Magic, and CIA Secrets.
In 1999, with Pilgrim still fully entrenched in producing projects for Discovery, Piligian segued into producing a new kind of reality show when he served as co-executive producer on CBS’s mega-hit, Survivor. Shooting for three months in the jungles of a remote island off the coast of Malaysian Borneo was worth it, as 55 million viewers tuned in for the finale of Survivor I, giving CBS its biggest non-sporting audience ever. Piligian went on to produce the show’s second season in Australia, and its third in Africa.
In 2001, Pilgrim acquired the highly sought-after rights to Chronicle Books’ best-selling how-to manual, “The Worst Case Scenario Survival Handbook,” and in 2002 the company produced the series Worst Case Scenario for TBS. Hosted by a then-relatively-unknown Mike Rowe, the show followed people who set out to face their worst fears, with stunt men also re-enacting death-defying situations.
Pilgrim continued to produce series and specials for Discovery, including Discovery Channel World Championship Adventure Race (2001), a documentary that tracked teams competing in an extreme, six-day multi-sport race; and Covert Action (2002), which delved into real CIA case files detailing top-secret, anti-terrorist missions.
The company went on to produce some of Discovery’s most successful and longest- running series, including American Chopper (2003), which tracks the daily tensions, tirades and triumphs of a father and son team who run a business creating custom motorbike masterpieces (the series premiered on Discovery in 2003, and in 2007 moved to Discovery’s sister channel, TLC); American Hot Rod (2004), which provided an inside look at the life and work of the late Boyd Coddington as he and his team raced to complete their classic cars; and American Casino (2004), taking viewers behind the scenes at the Green Valley Ranch hotel and casino, minutes away from the Las Vegas strip.
Pilgrim also produces for Discovery the ultra-popular Dirty Jobs, featuring host Mike Rowe. Launched in 2005, the series is in its fourth season on Discovery, with more than 90 episodes produced. In 2008, the show received an Emmy nomination for Best Reality Program.
Pilgrim also produced the series Cupid for CBS in 2003, a relationship show that challenged America to find the perfect mate for one eligible young woman.
In 2004, the company began producing for SCI FI Channel the hit series Ghost Hunters, which introduced viewers to Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson – plumbers by day and Ghost Hunters by night. The two head up TAPS (The Atlantic Paranormal Society), a close-knit group of volunteers – ordinary citizens who attempt to help debunk claims of otherworldly activity. From its series debut, the show built its audience year over year, leading to its best season premiere ever in September 2008, with 2.7 million total viewers, representing double-digit growth over its prior-season premiere (March 2008).
In 2005, Pilgrim began producing the series The Ultimate Fighter for Spike TV. The series performed so well, it impacted what had been a rather obscure fringe sport, helping it grow into today’s multi-billion dollar industry. With Spike’s current episode commitment, The Ultimate Fighter is slated to air well into season 12.
In April of 2008, an episode of Ghost Hunters featuring a special investigation at a U.S. Air Force base attracted 1.8 million viewers in the Adults 24-54 demographic, the best ever for a Sci-Fi original reality series telecast. Also popular with female viewers, Ghost Hunters’ fifth season scored the highest viewership for any SCI FI original series ever in the Women 18-49 and Women 25-54 demographics. That same season garnered the top four telecasts among Women 25-54, and the top two telecasts among Women 18-49, in Sci-Fi’s history. This led to the spin-off series Ghost Hunters International, which Pilgrim also produces for SCI FI. The show debuted in January of 2008 and averaged two million viewers per episode. When it returned in July, the series realized double-digit growth across all demographics. Ghost Hunters International returns to SCI FI Channel with 25 new episodes in 2009. Additionally, Pilgrim is producing the pilot for a second Ghost Hunters spin-off series, Ghost Hunters: College Edition.
From ghostly occurrences to ghastly weather patterns, Pilgrim produced the series Greensburg in 2008 for Discovery’s fledgling network, Planet Green. After a massive tornado leveled the town of Greensburg, Kansas in 2007, Pilgrim teamed with Leonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way to produce a show chronicling the rebuilding of the town based on principles of economic and environmental sustainability. Greensburg premiered on Planet Green in June 2008. The show is now in production on season two.
For The CW Pilgrim produced the series In Harm’s Way, hosted by former Navy fighter pilot and Emmy-winner Hunter Ellis. The show follows the lives of those who put themselves at risk to do critical yet life-threatening jobs, such as war photographers, oil well cappers, Coast Guard divers, mine sweepers and others. Also airing is Sandhogs (History Channel), a series that takes viewers below the streets of New York to meet the urban miners who build the city’s underground infrastructure of water and sewage tunnels, subway systems and bridge footings; and Rocco to the Rescue (A&E), which brings celebrity chef Rocco DiSpirito into the homes of real people planning an important meal or event.
Pilgrim is also producing My Fair Wedding for WE tv – already picked up for a second season – in which celebrity wedding and event planner David Tutera rescues weddings headed for disaster and turns them into platinum-style affairs; and Destroyed in Seconds for Discovery, featuring clips of the most amazing accidents, explosions and stunts ever caught on tape. (After just two airings, Destroyed in Seconds was picked up for a second season.)
Among the company’s anticipated series are Doing Da Vinci for Discovery, which takes the original designs for various inventions envisioned by the great artist and constructs and tests them for viability, determining whether Leonardo Da Vinci was an engineer ahead of his time, or merely a prolific dreamer; and Man Vs. Cartoon for TruTV, which investigates whether actions and activities executed in cartoons are actually possible in real life.
Craig Piligian began his career in the news business, working as an assignment editor at the Las Vegas ABC affiliate, KTNV, and at CNN. Soon after, he transitioned to television production, and in 1991 produced some of the industry’s first “reality” programming, including Genesis Entertainment’s Emergency Call and Real Stories of the Highway Patrol. With more than 625 episodes produced, Real Stories became the first successful launch and sustained production of a syndicated reality strip.
In 1997, Craig started his own company, Pilgrim Films and Television, which began producing multiple hours of documentary programming for the Discovery Channel. An early special on the inner workings of the Central Intelligence Agency (Inside the CIA) did so well for the network that it commissioned Piligian to produce many more specials on the subject, including CIA Files, CIA Magic, and CIA Secrets.
While his company continued to produce programming for Discovery, Craig launched the reality mega-hit Survivor in 1999 for CBS, serving as that series’ co-executive producer. Three months of shooting in the jungles of a remote island off the coast of Malaysian Borneo was well worth it, as 55 million viewers watched the finale of Survivor I, giving CBS its biggest non-sporting audience ever. Craig also produced the show’s second season in Australia, and its third in Africa.
In between Survivor seasons two and three, Craig produced the series Worst Case Scenario for TBS in 2002, based on the best-selling book of the same name. Concurrently, he continued producing series and specials for Discovery, including Discovery Channel World Championship Adventure Race and Covert Action, as well as shows for other networks, including the 2003 series Cupid for CBS.
In addition, Craig co-wrote “The Spy’s Guide: Office Espionage,” which was Quirk/Chronicle Books’ lead title when it debuted in 2003.
Craig continued his prolific relationship with Discovery Channel, creating and executive-producing such long-running hit shows as American Chopper; American Hot Rod; American Casino; and the ultra-popular Dirty Jobs, featuring Mike Rowe. Launched in 2005, Dirty Jobs is in its fourth season on Discovery, with more than 90 episodes produced. In 2008, the show received an Emmy nomination for Best Reality Program.
In addition to his many shows for Discovery, Craig also created and executive-produced the hit series Ghost Hunters and Ghost Hunters International for SCI FI Channel, and ratings giant The Ultimate Fighter for Spike TV.
Premiering in 2004, Ghost Hunters quickly became one of SCI FI’s most popular programs, delivering record ratings throughout its run. In 2008, Craig executive-produced the spin-off, Ghost Hunters International, which returns for its second season in 2009. Craig is also producing the pilot for a second Ghost Hunters spin-off series, Ghost Hunters: College Edition. The shows comprise the #1 paranormal franchise on television.
The Ultimate Fighter premiered on Spike in January of 2005, and with the network’s current episode commitment, is slated to air well into season 12.
Recently, Craig executive-produced the critically acclaimed, buzz-generating series, Greensburg, for Discovery’s newest network, Planet Green. The show chronicles the unprecedented rebuilding of Greensburg, Kansas (following total destruction of the town after a massive tornado struck in May 2007) on principles of economic and environmental sustainability. Launched in early 2008, the show is currently in production on season two.
Also in 2008, Craig produced the extremely popular My Fair Wedding for WE tv, and Destroyed in Seconds for Discovery, both picked up for second seasons. Craig also is producing the new companion show to Destroyed in Seconds, called Moments of Terror.
Other recent Piligian-produced series include In Harm’s Way for The CW; Sandhogs for The History Channel; and Rocco to the Rescue for A&E. Craig also produced the Tommy Hilfiger reality show, The Cut, for CBS; Strip Search for VH1; and Master of Dance for TLC.
Among Craig’s highly anticipated series are Doing Da Vinci for Discovery, which takes the original designs for various inventions envisioned by the great artist and constructs and tests them for viability; and Man Vs. Cartoon for TruTV, which investigates whether actions and activities executed in cartoons are actually possible in real life.