Private company

51 Minds Entertainment

American television production company

51 Minds Entertainment (or Fifty One Minds Entertainment) is a production company founded by Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, that specializes in reality TV. It was created in 2004 as a merger between Cris Abrego's 51 Pictures (formerly Brass Ring Entertainment) and Mark Cronin's Mindless Entertainment. The company is best known for producing the "celebreality" programs on VH1 (such as Flavor of Love, Rock of Love with Bret Michaels, Real Chance of Love, etc.) and other shows such as The Surreal Life, La La's Full Court Life, and the Below Deck franchise.2 It is part of Endemol Shine North America.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 20, 2026.

Overview

2004Founded1
  • Industrytelevision1
  • HeadquartersLos Angeles1
  • Websitewww.51minds.com
  • Legal formLimited Liability Company3
  • LEI984500U8FD8C685136173
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusIssued and current3
  • Registered address1015 GRANDVIEW AVE., 91201 Glendale, United States3
  • Registered withCorporation and Business Entity Database (Division of Corporations, State Records and UCC, Department of State), 31090163

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51 Minds Entertainment (or Fifty One Minds Entertainment) is a production company founded by Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin, that specializes in reality TV. It was created in 2004 as a merger between Cris Abrego's 51 Pictures (formerly Brass Ring Entertainment) and Mark Cronin's Mindless Entertainment.2

Corporate structure

51 Minds Entertainment is part of a group headed by Banijay Group. 72 entities, 16 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Founded by Cris Abrego and Mark Cronin in 2004.1

In 2005, the company signed a two-year, seven series production deal with VH1. The company has been credited in helping revive VH1 ratings during this time. In 2008, the company was purchased by Endemol.

In 2009, after the Murder of Jasmine Fiore case, VH1 canceled Megan Wants a Millionaire and the third season of I Love Money, and 51 Minds was forced to reimburse VH1 for over $12 million in losses.

In 2010, the company branched out in Internet distributed programming, producing The Tester for the PlayStation Network. Other popular shows include Below Deck and their franchises on the NBCUniversal network Bravo.

In 2014, Cronin left the company to form Little Wooden Boat Productions, but still continued to work on shows by 51 Minds, such as Below Deck and Idiotest.

From Wikipedia’s article on 51 Minds Entertainment, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Leadership

Who has led 51 Minds Entertainment, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Products and brands

  • Flavor of Love

Listed on Wikidata.1

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

Owners

From Wikidata.1

Acquisitions

  1. Succeeded Authentic Entertainment1

Timeline

  1. 2004Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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