Can you outwit, outplay and outlast? That is what UC Santa Barbara student Kurt Kieu is asking the student community.
When Kieu was 13 years old he wrote out and created his version of the hit CBS series “Survivor.” After rediscovering the document with ideas for challenges and twists, he pitched a Santa Barbara version to his campus film club, Reality UCSB.
“It’s always been a personal dream of mine, a childhood dream to host and really make my own ‘Survivor’ show in a way,” Kieu said.
Filming for the student-run production will span three weekends, May 17 through June 2, and around Isla Vista and the UCSB campus. After beating the other 15 contestants, the one Survivor will win $250.
“The aspect of me now attending UCSB, it was almost like perfect collision. UCSB is the perfect school and campus to have a ‘Survivor’ show be there,” Kieu said.
Kieu said he made it a priority to film and play only on the weekends to not interrupt students’ academics.
“We really want to separate the game from their own personal life,” he said, “and anytime they step on to play ‘Survivor,’ we want them to focus on the game.”
With the original CBS series, contestants are left on their own in a new location. Because “Survivor Santa Barbara” will not completely immerse contestants, Kieu said he wants to create a rulebook to ensure no one talks about the show outside filming days.
Kieu said he has ideas already in place regarding challenges and locations. He hopes to incorporate kayaking and rock climbing.
The contestant application closed last Wednesday with 48 contestants vying to be on the show. Kieu said he is looking for interesting people who make the audience feel attached.
“We want to have rootable characters and people who do not have the best intentions in mind but are entertaining and play a villainous character,” he said.
Kieu acknowledged that with some reality television shows, those villain characters can be artificially produced. But for his show, he said he spoke to his club members about refusing to script and intervene with contestant interactions.
“I want this Survivor show to be different from the original ‘Survivor’ show,” he said. “I do not want to make it overproduced, over-scripted, I do not want to change anybody’s narrative, I really want to capture what is happening.”
Besides the 16 contestants, there will be 25 crew members working behind the camera. Kieu said he and his editors aim to premiere the show in the 2024 fall quarter.
Kieu founded and created Reality UCSB last fall, and the group aims to help members “turn their creative dreams into a reality,” according to its Instagram account.
When he first pitched Survivor Santa Barbara to the club members, he says they were caught off guard because the club has mostly produced short narrative films. But they decided to go for it.
“I felt like there were no film-making opportunities for me and other students. Instead of waiting for an opportunity to come for me, I decided to start my own club and make the opportunity for myself,” he said of Reality UCSB.
Above all, his main goal with the show is to “bring back UCSB’s spark.” He pointed to the current political climate on UCSB’s campus.
“We want to make it where there is a world in our school and our space where we can coexist with one another, and I think having ‘Survivor Santa Barbara’ will bring people together despite all our differences and beliefs,” Kieu said.