Survivor executive producer Matt Van Wagenen, casting director Jesse Tannenbaum, editor Brian Barefoot and returning cast member Tiffany Nicole Ervin dished on the CBS reality series’ “incredible” Season 50 and looked ahead at the upcoming Season 51 during an appearance at Deadline’s Contenders Television: The Nominees Studio.
“Well, I think for us, Season 50, when Jeff [Probst] first talked about it, it was about being a celebration. And every time we talked about this, we thought, how can this be a celebration? And for us, celebration meant throwing everything at the players that we could, which I think we did,” said Van Wagenen. “And as we threw things at them, they really took it all in and attacked it, so they bought in with everything that we were doing, which made it for me an amazing season to watch and be a part of for sure.”
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As Van Wagenen looks ahead to Season 51, he revealed “50 was really the leaping-off point for what we are calling the open era, and that really is — the phrase we use out there is ‘permanent uncertainty.’ As much as we had a lot of question marks and a lot of curveballs in 50, we’ve amped it up for 51.”
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Watch the panel conversation below and scroll down for photos from the event.
Speaking about casting the castaways, Tannenbaum said “it is hard to predict because sometimes you’re dealing with people, talking to them, and they’re completely different on the show than they were through the casting process. He adds, “we really work hard to find compelling people to play one of the most incredible reality shows that’s ever been created. You throw them out there, and it’s up to them what they do with this opportunity, and that’s in their gameplay, and that’s in the personality they bring to the show. So it is a little complicated.”
Ervin, who first appeared on Survivor 46, shared her excitement at returning for Season 50, and admitted Van Wagenen “is not lying when he says they threw everything they had at us.”
“I’ve been watching this show my whole life as a person, played it, and then to be able to come back on such a monumental season, it was palpable how excited and how grateful everybody was to just be a part of such an experience,” she said. “And then to take it a step further and say, not only am I on a landmark season, but I’m doing things that have literally never been done before, so even though something as chaotic and crazy as the blood moon coming at me, I’ve never seen it before. But I’m like, let me at it!”
Barefoot, who has served as an editor on Survivor since its Season 1 launch, spoke of mining an enormous amount of footage to capture just the right moments. “We’re looking for those, not just the story points, but the little moments, the little things that you may miss. We, the editors, we’re the first audience to see how it plays on a screen, and we’re fans. When I see an eye roll from Tiffany, it’s like, I’m putting a mark on that, and I will use that shot somewhere.”
All had praise for Probst, who has hosted the series since its launch, and serves as executive producer and showrunner. Probst’s enthusiasm “is infectious,” said Tannenbaum. “When you think about surviving, you think about Jeff, that’s natural. The amount of care and passion he has, not just for the show, but for every single person that works on the show, for the cast that has been on the show, the future cast, even the applicants that go through the casting process and might have met him and didn’t go further, he’s like, how are they doing? How do they take the news? Are they okay? He just truly is caring, and that’s nothing but inspiring to make us want to work that much harder.”
The long-running reality series received five Emmy nominations for Season 50 including Outstanding Reality Competition Program, Outstanding Host for a Reality Program (Probst), Outstanding Cinematography for a Reality Program, and Outstanding Picture Editing for a Structured Reality or Competition Program.
Hayden Panettiere poses nearly naked in bathtub in ‘tearful’ final campaign before her death
Hayden Panettiere appears almost naked in a bathtub for an emotional PETA campaign filmed weeks before her death at the age of 36.
The Heroes and Nashville star died in Greenville, South Carolina, on Sunday. First responders could not revive her after attending the property. Authorities are still investigating Hayden’s death, with no official cause confirmed.
PETA released the finished campaign on Tuesday. In the video, Hayden uses the confined space of a bathtub to illustrate the conditions dolphins and whales face in marine amusement parks.
The newly released PETA film provides a glimpse of Hayden in one of her final campaigns, using her public profile to support a cause she had championed since her teenage years.
One of Hayden Panettiere’s final campaigns for PETA
In the campaign video, Hayden looks directly at the camera as she says: “Imagine spending your entire life in a bathtub. That’s what it’s like for dolphins and whales in tiny tanks at marine amusement parks.”
The actress then asks viewers to consider how captivity may affect the animals. She says: “Can you imagine their frustration, their trauma, their depression? All that’s important and crucial for their well-being is ripped away.”
Hayden also tells viewers: “We can end this. You and me.”
She concludes the video: “Together, we can end this cruelty. Thank you.”
Read more: Hayden Panettiere’s mother lashes out at her on-off boyfriend in statement after her death at 36
Her work for marine animals stretched back almost two decades. In 2007, Hayden joined activists confronting dolphin hunters off the coast of Taiji in Japan. The events featured in the 2009 documentary The Cove, which won the Oscar for best documentary feature.
She also worked with the Whaleman Foundation and regularly spoke out against marine mammal captivity.
PETA pays tribute to Hayden Panettiere
A PETA representative told Page Six that the campaign shoot took place on July 22. The representative also described Hayden as “wonderful” on set.
PETA senior vice president Lisa Lange later honoured the actress in a statement. She said: “Hayden Panettiere became a household name playing a hero on TV, but to animals, she was the real deal.”
Lange added: “The world has lost a kind soul and the animals a fierce ally, and everyone at PETA holds her memory close.”
The charity described the video as Hayden’s “last act of kindness” and released it as a tribute to her years of animal welfare work.
Hayden Panettiere’s cause of death remains unconfirmed
Authorities have not established Hayden’s official cause of death. TMZ reported that a 911 call referenced a possible overdose and cardiac arrest, but toxicology findings remain outstanding.
Officials said an autopsy found “no signs of trauma” that would have contributed to her death.
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