‘Project Runway’: Production Co. Magical Elves Returns for Bravo Revival

By Daniel Holloway

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Bravo is putting the “Project Runway” band back together.

Magical Elves, the original company behind the reality competition series, is returning to produce the show’s return to cable channel Bravo.

“’’ has truly come full circle with the on board,” said Shari Levine, executive vice president, current production, Bravo, “Jane Lipsitz and Dan Cutforth have been incredible producing partners with us through the years on multiple fronts. We blazed a trail with the first seasons of ‘Project Runway’ on Bravo, and now look forward to beginning the next evolution of the franchise with the team that was so instrumental in developing the format.”

Magical Elves, which produced the first five seasons of “Project Runway” more than a decade ago, bolted the series in 2008 after the Weinstein Co. cut a deal to move the show from NBCUniversal-owned Bravo to A+E Networks’ Lifetime. At NBCUniversal’s upfront presentation last month, Bravo host Andy Cohen surprised the audience by announcing that “Project Runway” would return to Bravo. The new season of the fashion-design competition is slated to premiere in 2019

Lifetime had renewed “Project Runway” for three more seasons in 2016. But after only one of those seasons aired, plans for the remaining two were scrapped. The move followed the emergence of sexual-assault allegations against Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Co. owns “Project Runway” and its spinoffs. In a court filing, A+E claimed that the Weinstein Co. had failed to operate a workplace within the bounds of the law, failed to notify A+E of potential legal claims, and failed to abide by standards and practices.

With the return of Magical Elves to the show, “Project Runway” will again be guided by the company that oversaw its rise to the forefront of cable reality programming.

“We could not be more thrilled to return as the producers of Project Runway,” said Dan Cutforth, co-founder, Magical Elves. “We built the series from the ground up with Bravo and it is part of the DNA of our company.”

“Dan and I have always loved ‘Runway’ so much and we can’t wait to return to it with a renewed creative energy,” said Jane Lipsitz, co-founder, Magical Elves, “We are really excited to reflect some of the incredible changes that have happened in the fashion world since we last produced the series.”

Pre-production on the new season of “Project Runway” for Bravo is already underway.