“As if you are running an entire company”

Halfway through February 2021, Banijay Nordic approached EMG about producing Survivor (known in The Netherlands as Expeditie Robinson) for five countries. Once everything was arranged, there were only two weeks left to get things on track. “It was a bit of a puzzle, but we did it,” as Project Manager Arjan van Loon explains from the Dominican Republic.

This is a new location for this show, which was filmed in the Philippines from 2014. Arjan: “Strangely enough, COVID-19 had nothing to do with it. The countries (Hungary, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland) were simply ready for a change.”

Because there was no time left for a working visit, Arjan and executive producers Willemijn Sikkema and Marjolein van Westerloo travelled there a few days early to make preparations. Arjan: “A lot still needed to be done. For example, we needed to arrange a fixed unit for the tribal council and storage for all the equipment. You also work with people with a more relaxed attitude, so you need to push them a bit more. That is why it was good to have a couple of days extra. On the first day of shooting, everything was ready for use.”

9,000 kilos of equipment

In three separate production periods, we made productions for five countries in blocks of 44 days. The EMG team consists of: a project manager, eight cameramen, an image director, an imaging technician, a sound director, three sound assistants, four operational assistants, two technicians and two media managers. Arjan: “We facilitate all the necessary technical equipment. We deliver two multicam setups for all the games and tribal councils. Those we operate ourselves. We have two portable production sets that we use for the games in different locations. Our 22 cameras are supported by two drones and an FS7 for slomos. On site, they were a bit surprised that we turned up with 34 pallets with 9,000 kilos of equipment.”

Keep everything running

Survivor is reality show that goes on for 44 days in a row; it does not stop. Arjan: “You are on 24/7’ for five and a half months. Apart from the Multicam job that we’re doing now, the challenge is mostly in constantly facilitating the countries and having the technicians keep everything running. On a rainy day, we come up with creative solutions to keep everything working. During a tropical shower masses of water come pouring down, and that can finish off your equipment if you’re not prepared. We make sure that there is waterproof transportation for all the equipment, because a lot of it is transported on small boats. The combination of salt, water and sand is not great for the equipment. “And bringing new stuff in through customs is not really a hobby of mine,” laughs Arjan.

And then you lose power…

Locally, they use 110 Volt outlets and these are usually not grounded. Because there are regular power failures, things sometimes break. Arjan: “That is why our Technical Department, Media Management and the two edits [MS1] from the different countries have installed UPS systems (emergency power supplies). It was a huge job, but safety and continuity come first. Everything here is shot with solid state cameras, with cards that are erased at the end of the day. So we need a main and a back-up for all the material.” Afterwards, all the material is sent to the countries themselves where they also make a main and a back-up. Once all copies have been made, the original material is erased.

Arjan is working on this challenging production until 5 September. He is working the full 160 days together with Kees Knepper from the Technical Department, Jeroen del Prado from Distribution, Media Manager Ricky Belt and Willemijn and Marjolein who are there on behalf of Banijay Nordic. They then also return to civilization where they’ll occasionally think back to their adventures in the Dominican Republic. 

 “They were a bit surprised that we turned up with 34 pallets with 9,000 kilos of equipment”

Fun facts

• Technical crew: 26 people
• Kilos of equipment: 9,000 kg
• Number of cameras: 22, including 8 Sony PXW-Z750 UHD ENG cameras for all the games and tribal councils.
• GoPros: 10
• Channels audio multitrack: 27
• For each country 10 reality teams a day would shoot with EMG equipment. Sony HD X500 cameras with MIXpreD-3 audio mixers are lightweight.
• Tough? The itching was, because the place was heaving with sandfleas and mosquitos!