MTV CELEBRATES SEASON 20 OF "THE REAL WORLD" BY ROLLING OUT THE GREEN CARPET IN HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA

A First for MTV, "The Real World: Hollywood" To Incorporate Environmentally-Friendly Household and Lifestyle Choices

Real World Casting Community Picks "Pretyboy" From Over 20,000 Entries As First-Ever Fan-Casted Roommate

Santa Monica, CA, August 9, 2007 MTV: Music Television and Bunim-Murray Productions bring the popular reality series, "The Real World" to Hollywood for production of the 20th season, set to begin in Q3 2007. The network has ordered 24 episodes of "The Real World: Hollywood" which is scheduled to premiere Q1 2008. In a groundbreaking initiative for the network, this new season will go "green" and introduce today's youth to the ways in which they can incorporate environmentally-friendly household items and make eco-friendly lifestyle choices, as seen on "The Real World" into their everyday lives. Also, for the first time, the audience has spoken MTV today announced the first-ever fan-voted winner from the Real World Casting online community, launched in May. "Pretyboy" of Daytona Beach, Florida beat more than 20,000 applicants to take his place as the seventh roommate in "The Real World: Hollywood" house.

A leader in pop-culture, MTV will showcase many of the ways in which viewers at home can participate in "green" practices every day with an intimate look at the sustainable and energy-efficient choices made in the construction of the house. By partnering with thinkMTV and working with a wide range of environmentally-friendly manufacturers, the 20th season will continue to set the standard for aspirational home design, this time with an eco-friendly twist.

"The Real World" house will include everything from solar energy solutions to bamboo flooring, recycled glass counters, some sustainable furniture and recycled vintage dcor, energy star appliances, a solar heated swimming pool and energy efficient lighting. Additionally, Bunim-Murray Productions has taken measures to reduce its environmental impact by adopting more environmentally-sound production practices on set. They also are working towards making the production and show carbon-neutral by offsetting remaining carbon emissions after these carbon reducing measures are applied. Eco-friendly elements will be added on a regular basis throughout production and within the show, including products seen with the cast and around the house. This initiative fits seamlessly with thinkMTV's continued environmental efforts which began with the launch of "Break the Addiction" on Earth Day 2006, a multi-platform campaign that encourages young people to make simple changes to improve their lives and to protect the planet.

For the first time, MTV put the power of casting in the hands of its fans. For the past three months, more than 20,000 wanna-be-roommates submitted :90-second "confessional" videos to RealWorldCasting.com to compete for a coveted spot in "The Real World: Hollywood" house. With more than 2.9 million total votes cast throughout the contest, "Pretyboy" from Daytona Beach, Florida emerged as the winner and will join the other six housemates in Hollywood, who are still being chosen by MTV and Bunim-Murray. RealWorldCasting.com is an example of several recently launched sites from MTV including MySuperSweet16.com, YoMomma.tv, ShortCircuitz.MTV.com and WannaBeMade.com that taps into viewers' creativity and provides them with paths directly back to the television screen.

"Our environment is changing, and young people are realizing that the choices they make in their daily lives can affect the future of the world they live in," said Christina Norman, President, MTV. "The Real World' has a longstanding history of tackling the issues facing each generation of MTV viewers and this season, we wanted to empower our audience by incorporating real, actionable solutions that they can take to make their own homes environmentally-friendly."

"It's exciting to bring the show back to Los Angeles and more specifically Hollywood," said Jon Murray, "The Real World" Co-Creator and Chairman & President of Bunim-Murray Productions. "Much like our LA cast 14 years ago, most of this year's cast hope to pursue their entertainment career goals while living in the Real World house."

"Coming back to Los Angeles after 14 years, where else but Hollywood could MTV have brought The Real World?" said Los Angeles City Council President Eric Garcetti, whose 13th district includes the production's location. "The combination of reality-TV excitement with strong ecological practices is a natural fit for Hollywood, the world's capital of entertainment and the place to look for the future of building a sustainable city."

"The Real World" consistently ranks as a top-rated cable series among Persons 12-34 with each season ranking #1 in their time periods among Persons 12-34 versus basic cable competition. "The Real World: Denver," the 18th season of this reality series, ranked #1 in its time period versus the cable competition among Persons 12-34. For the season, "The Real World: Denver" reached more than 97.5 million unique viewers on MTV, with more than 44.4 million viewers from the core Persons 12-34 demographic.

"The Real World" launched the modern reality television genre and is the longest-running reality series in history. The 19th season finds the new roommates living and working together in Sydney, Australia and airs Wednesdays at 10:00 p.m. (ET/PT). Past seasons have taken place in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Miami, Boston, Seattle, Hawaii, New Orleans, Chicago, Las Vegas, Paris, San Diego, Philadelphia, Austin, Key West and Denver. The first season, set in New York City, debuted in 1992. Each season, the show brings seven young strangers to live together in a new city and rolls the cameras 24-7, witnessing as their lives intersect, their ideas are challenged and their passions emerge.

"The Real World" was created for MTV by Jon Murray and Mary-Ellis Bunim of Bunim-Murray Productions. Jon Murray and Jim Johnston serve as Executive Producers of "The Real World: Hollywood." Drew Tappon and Jacquelyn French are the MTV executives overseeing the project.

 

Source: MTV Press Release

 

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