Governors Jill Dickerson and Bob Boden, along with the Reality Programming Peer Group Executive Committee, invite members to:
ONE ON ONE: A Conversation with Jon Murray & Jamal Henderson
An Examination of the Past, Present & Future of Unscripted Storytelling
Please join us for a lively and informative conversation between two of the Television Academy's most prolific creators. From the birth of modern reality television nearly 30 years ago to the genre pushing and platform shifting productions of today, these two producers will interview one another about their respective culture-defining hits and where they believe unscripted storytelling is headed.
Jon Murray, Founder and Executive Consultant, Bunim/Murray Productions
Jamal Henderson, Chief Content Officer, The SpringHill Company
Moderated by:
Themselves!
RSVP is required.
Academy Members: Click here to RSVP.
Foundation Alumni: Click here to RSVP.
Reminder: Peer group events like this one accept registrations on a first-come, first-served basis. If the event reaches capacity, members who register will be placed on the Waiting List. As space opens up, members on the Waiting List may be promoted to a registration up to 24 hours before the event. For more information, check Frequently Asked Questions.
Can't make the event? No problem! This event will be recorded and you can watch on TelevisionAcademy.com following the event.
Jonathan Murray
Widely credited with helping to usher in the modern reality television genre with his late partner Mary-Ellis Bunim, Jonathan Murray continues to inspire, influence and entertain television audiences worldwide. Since the launch of The Real World on MTV in 1992, Murray has created and executive produced some of the industry's most innovative, unscripted, entertainment television programs. Most recently he Executive Produced Paramount +'s The Real World Homecoming, a six episode reunion of the original The Real World New York cast which premieres in March.
The Real World is credited for its inclusive casting and most notably for the inclusion of Pedro Zamora, an HIV/AIDS educator, in the 1994 season of the series. President Clinton credited Pedro's inclusion in the series as having done more to educate young people about AIDS than any PSA his administration could make. The series has also explored important issues around race and privilege since its first season in 1992.
Besides The Real World, which most recently streamed in the US, Mexico, and Thailand on Facebook Watch, Murray has executive produced: A&E's acclaimed series, Born This Way, about young adults with Down Syndrome and their families. The series won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Series, Family or Fiancé (OWN), Project Runway, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Simple Life, Road Rules, The Challenge, Starting Over (Emmy Award), and Making the Band, as well as the feature film The Real Cancun, the television movie, Pedro, and the documentaries, Autism: The Musical (HBO) (Emmy Award), Shadow Billionaire (CNBC), Valentine Road (HBO), They Call Us Monsters (PBS), as well as two documentaries for HBO released in 2020, Autism: The Sequel, and Transhood.
Murray began his career in local television news in Green Bay, followed by stints in Atlanta Rochester and Cleveland, eventually moving into television programming. After three years as a programming consultant in New York, for the Television Rep, HRP, Murray formed Bunim-Murray Productions in 1987 with Mary-Ellis Bunim.
Jonathan Murray graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and endowed a documentary journalism program at the Missouri's school of journalism in 2014. In 2012, Murray was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
Murray is a founding co-artistic director of New World Provincetown which is developing plays and musicals that feature previously marginalized voices and speak to important social issues.
Murray is Vice Chairman of the Board of The Television Academy Foundation, and recently led the effort with Cris Abrego, to endow a Diversity & Inclusion Internship program to increase the pipeline of people of color into jobs in unscripted television. He also serves on the Board RespectAbility, an organization that advances opportunities for people with disabilities. He previously served on the Board of Trustees of Semester at Sea.
Jamal Henderson
Jamal Henderson is the Chief Content Officer at The SpringHill Company. In his role, Henderson oversees the development and production of original content for television, film and audio. Since joining in 2015, Henderson has successfully led the charge in setting up films Space Jam: A New Legacy (Warner Bros.) and House Party (Newline) and producing Self Made (Madam CJ Walker limited series w. Octavia Spencer) at Netflix, Shut Up and Dribble at Showtime, The Wall at NBC, and winning an Emmy for the Muhammad Ali limited docuseries, What's My Name for HBO, directed by Antoine Fuqua.
Prior to joining SpringHill, Henderson was a Brand Director at PepsiCo managing the Mountain Dew brand. He received his BS from Cornell and MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.