# Survivor crew **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282 "2005-04-01T19:19:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/1 "2005-04-01T19:19:52Z")
I was talking with a friend of mine who knows/knew someone who was on the crew of _Survivor_ a while ago. According to the FOAF, it was a horrible job. Lots of heat, lots of insects, lots of work. Having gripped on a few small projects, I know how hot, dirty, sweaty and fatiguing crew positions can be. But hey, I worked on a film in New Orleans one August doing continuity and schlepping gear for no pay. (Actually, I did get $50 ten years later.) Yeah, it was harsh; but I’d do it again. So how does one get on the crew of _Survivor_? I can operate a broadcast camera, I can schlep gear, and I’m not above being a PA. Even given the second-hand report of the harsh conditions, I think it would be a great experience. (And I collect experiences.) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/2 "2005-04-01T19:28:50Z")
Going to [cbs.com](http://cbs.com), there was a link in the lower left for corporate info at [Viacom.com](http://Viacom.com). That site had a Jobs link on it, and that might be a good place to start. But, yes, to quote a paraphrase of that old line about Ginger Rogers, Survivor camera operators do everything the Survivors do, backwards, carrying a camera. Not easy work. They probably get fed, though. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/3 "2005-04-01T20:10:09Z")
Thanks, **Ethilrist**. I’ve sent an e-mail to Viacom asking where I can get onto a production crew (not just for _Survivor_). ---
**Author:** ![Shayna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shayna/32/17976_2.png) [@Shayna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shayna)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/4 "2005-04-01T20:18:44Z")
Not that Thomas has any kind of pull or influence (ha ha! – sorry, honey), but if you think it would be at all helpful to have an internal reference/recommendation, let us know, since Thomas works for Paramount Pictures, which is [owned by Viacom](http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/viacom.asp). ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/5 "2005-04-01T20:29:58Z")
Hi **Shayna**! 🙂 That could be good. I don’t _have_ to work on _Survivor_. It would be cool just to work in production. I wouldn’t mind finding temporary digs down there, as long as I had a job that would let me keep my wonderful PNW house-by-the-beach! (Although my friend Jerry, who’s looking at a lot of work coming up, may be disappointed if I’m not around to crew for _him_.) PS: I sent you an e-mail. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/6 "2005-04-01T20:37:30Z")
Film crews are heavily unionized. The son of friends of ours got himself a kind of internship on a George Romero movie (he dated his daughter) but getting paying work would have been very difficult. I seem to remember an extensive apprenticeship was needed before you got to join the union - and this film shot in Toronto. Good luck, but I bet the crew is Hollywood based, and people wanting to do this work are not in short supply. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/7 "2005-04-01T20:44:09Z")
:smack: I forgot about the unions! ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/8 "2005-04-01T23:18:40Z")
Don’t forget about “it’s who you know”. I spent a summer in L.A. and contacted a producer from my hometown. A FOAF situation. I had recommendations from folks who knew my work so he was willing to give me a go on a new reality show set out in the wilderness somewhere. I ended having to come home pre-maturely and guess what I find out later it was Survivor. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/9 "2005-04-02T03:46:45Z")
And don’t forget the downside of being on the crew. Interns on _Fear Factor_, for example, are required to test all of the stunts before the players do, including test-eating anything that will be used on the show. ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/survivor-crew/297282/10 "2005-04-02T19:33:45Z")
Which is terrifying mostly because that means there are some things they do that are so terrible they won’t subject the contestants to them…