Craig Piligian

President, CEO & Executive Producer, Pilgrim Films & Television

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 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, such as 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 hits 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 fifth season on Discovery, 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 addition to his many shows for Discovery, Craig also created and executive-produced for Syfy (formerly, SCI FI Channel) the hit series Ghost Hunters, which premiered in 2004 and 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. Because of the success of all of these series, which represent the #1 paranormal franchise on television.

For Spike TV, Craig also produced the ratings giant 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.

Craig also helped launch Discovery’s network, Planet Green, when he executive-produced the critically acclaimed Greensburg, which premiered in 2008 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.

In broadening Pilgrim’s production genre, Craig also produced in 2008 the extremely popular My Fair Wedding for WEtv, currently in production on season three. Performing as one of the highest-rated series on the channel since its premiere, in 2009 the show 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, Craig next tackled the Emmy award-winning 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 agreed 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.

Craig is also producing for History the highly rated Top Shot, a marksman competition show, and History’s first competition series ever (now casting season two), 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.

Other series produced by Craig 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.