by Thinus Ferreira
Survivor SA has become the first South African TV production to be directly impacted by the growing global coronavirus pandemic with M-Net that will very likely postpone filming and the location that might be changed, similar to the new American season of Survivor that is pushing filming out by two months.
Filming of M-Net's latest 8th season of Survivor South Africa entitled Survivor SA: Immunity Island is supposed to start soon after casting for a new set of castaways is completed but the filming and part of the production might now very well be postponed due to the growing number of Covid-19 coronavirus cases across South Africa, as well as internationally.
The starting date of Survivor SA: Immunity Island, produced by Afrokaans with Nico Panagio as host, that has been pencilled in on the schedule to start in September on M-Net (DStv 101) might also be pushed out if island-based filming is delayed.
Due to growing coronavirus fears the risk is increasing of shooting in a place in the world where the novel coronavirus might take hold endangering the castaways and crew, or that South African contestants or production members could "export" the disease to the as-yet-undisclosed island destination.
Meanwhile, as more and more countries and territories are announcing their first and more coronavirus cases, M-Net and Afrokaans might need to rethink the available coronavirus-free island options and connected-travel options to get there.
Castaways who are part of the jury needs to be away for up to 50 days for the new 8th season, with the in-play show that will again run over 39 days.
"The safety, health and well-being of our Survivor South Africa contestants and crew are extremely important to us. M-Net and the production company Afrokaans are re-assessing the timelines and location for the next season and will make a decision soon," Lani Lombard, M-Net's head of publicity, tells TVwithThinus.
For the time being MultiChoice and M-Net are going ahead with this Saturday's 7th Africa Magic Viewers' Choice Awards taking place in Lagos, Nigeria as well as the 2020 DStv Mzansi Viewers' Choice Awards taking place at The Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg where collectively thousands of people from across sub-Sahara will attend the two award show ceremonies which will both be broadcast live on the Africa Magic and Mzansi Magic channels on DStv.
The National Film and Video Foundation's (NFVF) 14th South African Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) is also still on for 27 and 28 March at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
American Survivor postponed
Late on Wednesday CBS and the American version of Survivor took the decision to delay production of the latest 41st season of the reality island competition show which was supposed to start filming on 24 March, as well as the 42nd season that will follow after that due to the spread of Covid-19 globally.
"Due to concerns and uncertainty surrounding the spread of COVID-19 globally, CBS and the producers of Survivor have taken the precautionary measure to delay production on the 41st season, which was set to begin filming later this month in Fiji," CBS says in a statement.
"Pending worldwide events, the plan is to return to production on 19 May. The health and safety of the castaways and production members is our top priority."
In a note to the crew the Survivor host Jeff Probst, who is also an executive producer on the show, wrote: "Though Fiji has no reported cases and is beautifully remote, our crew numbers over 400 and are flying in from over 20 different countries, creating a need for more time to fully analyze and create our new production safety plan".
"Due to the growing short-term uncertainty surrounding the global spread of Covid-19 and the corresponding desire for the continued well-being of our amazing crew, we have decided to push back our start date for Survivor season 41."
"This situation is unprecedented and we are learning more information every day. It is out of concern for the well-being of all of you that we have taken this step. Our intention is to begin production after the season 41 live show."
"Therefore, subject to new information, our new planned start date for production would be on or about 19 May 2020. Our intention is to still to shoot both seasons 41 and 42. We know many of you will have questions and we will start a communication chain to keep everybody up to date."
"We are the most experienced international television team in the world and for 20 years we have calmly and successfully managed a variety of production issues. We will navigate this one the same way. Thank you for understanding our need for this extra time to create our plan. Jeff."
