Television producer Craig Piligian founded Pilgrim Films and Television in 1997. 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.
Pilgrim initially focused on producing documentary programming for Discovery Channel, beginning with Inside the CIA, an early special on the inner workings of the Central Intelligence Agency which did so well for Discovery that it ordered from Pilgrim many more specials on the subject, including 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 rights to Chronicle Books’ best-selling “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 create custom motorbike masterpieces (the series premiered in 2003 on Discovery and moved to TLC in 2007), 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.
In 2005, Pilgrim produced for Discovery the ultra-popular Dirty Jobs, featuring host Mike Rowe. Profiling some of America’s unsung laborers who make their living doing some of the most unthinkable, yet vital jobs, the series has been airing on Discovery for five seasons, with more than 100 episodes produced. Dirty Jobs has earned multiple Emmy nominations, including nominations for Best Reality Program in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
In 2004, Pilgrim began producing for Syfy (formerly 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. Premiering in 2004, the show remains one of Syfy’s most popular programs, delivering record ratings throughout its run, including its season six premiere (March 3, 2010) which also coincided with the series’ 100th episode. Ghost Hunters has evolved into one of Syfy’s most successful franchises, with Ghost Hunters International premiering in 2008 (and continuing its run in 2009) and Ghost Hunters Academy premiering in November 2009. These series now represent the #1 paranormal franchise on television.
Pilgrim’s ability to create franchises has also been proven at Spike TV with the series The Ultimate Fighter. Turning what was the relatively obscure sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) into today’s multi-billion dollar industry, The Ultimate Fighter premiered on Spike in January 2005 and, over 10 seasons, has become a major franchise for the channel. In fact, the show’s Season 10 premiere (Sept. 16, 2009) was the most-watched episode in the series’ history, as well as in Spike TV’s history for an original airing. With Spike’s current episode commitment, The Ultimate Fighter is slated to air well into season 12.
Pilgrim went from battles in the ring to battling Mother Nature with the series Greensburg, which premiered in 2008 on Discovery’s Planet Green and ran for three seasons. The show chronicled the unprecedented rebuilding of the town of Greensburg, Kansas, following total destruction after a massive tornado struck in May 2007, on principles of economic and environmental sustainability. The popularity of the series and its compelling story even reached the White House, with President George W. Bush inviting Greensburg City Administrator, Steve Hewitt, to the White House for the President’s second State of the Union address, and President Barack Obama citing the town in a 2009 address to Congress as a green energy leader to emulate.
Broadening Pilgrim’s production genre, the company also produced in 2008 the extremely popular My Fair Wedding for WEtv, featuring celebrity wedding and event planner David Tutera, who rescues weddings headed for disaster and turns them into platinum-style affairs. Currently in its third season, the show has performed as one of the highest-rated series on the channel since its premiere, and in 2009 delivered its best telecast ever (including household rating, total viewership and all female demographics) with a season two increase of 43% over season one.
From wild weddings to the Alaskan wilderness, Pilgrim also produced the Emmy award-winning Out of the Wild: The Alaska Experiment (Best Cinematography, 2009) for Discovery. Premiering to stellar ratings in April 2009, the show follows nine strangers who agree to abandon the comforts of home in order to test their physical and mental limits in the Alaskan wilderness. Given no food, and armed with just three days of training and a few essentials, the only “prize” for the winner is the satisfaction of having survived.
Pilgrim is also producing for History the highly rated Top Shot, a marksman competition show, and History’s first competition series ever, and is in production for the channel on Only in America with Larry the Cable Guy, which follows the comedian as he travels the country immersing himself in different jobs, lifestyles and experiences.
Also in production for Discovery is Airplane Repo, which follows repossessor Nick Popovich in his high-risk field of reclaiming jets and helicopters from their financially delinquent owners. And currently airing on the channel are Destroyed in Seconds, featuring clips of the most amazing accidents, explosions and stunts ever caught on tape, its companion show, Extreme Peril, and the series Swamp Logging.
Additional Pilgrim-produced shows include Doing Da Vinci for Discovery; In Harm’s Way for The CW; Sandhogs for The History Channel; Rocco to the Rescue for A&E; the Tommy Hilfiger reality show, The Cut, for CBS; Strip Search for VH1; and Master of Dance for TLC.
