Malaysia is not just a tourist destination. Over the years, our beautiful country has been earmarked as an ideal filming location by many international filmmakers.
Now, according to Australian news portal news.com.au, the Ten Network announced that it would revive “Australian Survivor” this year and it will begin filming on a tropical island off Pulau Tiga in Sabah, Malaysia.
“Survivor” is a well-known reality competition TV series that was produced in many countries throughout the world. In the show, contestants are isolated in the wilderness and split between 2 “tribes” to compete for cash and other prizes. It uses a system of a progressive elimination, allowing the contestants to vote off other tribe members until only one final contestant remains and wins the title of “Sole Survivor”.
Titled “Australian Survivor”, the Australian version of the show was adapted by the Nine Network and aired in 2002. The celebrity version later aired in 2006 on the Seven Network, but both incarnations only lasted one season due to low ratings.
For the revival of “Australian Survivor”, it will begin filming on Pulau Tiga, which was previously used as a filming location by the US version of the show. Titled “Survivor: Borneo”, the show was shot in 2000 at the island that now has a resort, a campsite, a restaurant, and a national park.
However, news.com.au stated that the island will be presented to viewers as a remote isolated spot. Sources also said that early work on the series is currently underway and key production hires have been made.
A number of senior production personnel have been hired to work on the programme, including Trent Pattison, the challenge guru who previously worked on several US seasons of “Survivor” and “I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here!” last year.
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Channel Ten’s chief programming officer Beverly McGarvery said that picking a location that used by a previous series was deliberate. “We’ll end up collecting an island location — most likely a location that has had a series of Survivor shot there before,” she said.
She added:
Just because bringing that expertise to the table is really critical.
McGarvey also said that the producers are “really involved” in reviving the series. “We think the purity of the concept is something that will really resonate with Australian audiences,” she added.
Filming will commence sometime in March and continue for almost 3 months. The new season of the show is expected to air towards the end of the year.
Source: news.com.au via The Malay Mail Online.
