Deaths on Reality TV

Not that long ago, a contestant on a Pakistani reality TV show drowned while performing a challenge for the programme in the Thai capital of Bangkok, where the show was being filmed by a crew from Mumbai. This challenge involved swimming across a lake while wearing a seven-kilogram backpack. Apparently, the guy called out for help, and then disappeared under the water; and although horrified co-contestants and crew rushed to try to save him, they could not find him in the dirty waters of the lake.

Obviously, the safety issue here is huge. Rumours that the production company as well as the originating sponsors were not tasked with signing the required safety documents abound; bloggers have also asked that if the stunt was so dangerous why were the life jackets made optional – especially with those seven-kilogram weights in backpacks, which themselves would have got heavier in the water.

There’s also stuff on the net about leading blogs being blocked by various ISPs in Pakistan, and media in other countries being stifled from reporting the event.

Now, it’s unsubstantiated at this point, but I found one article on the web claiming that there have been 11 deaths involving reality TV shows filming around the world to date. And of course, there is relevance to New Zealand, in that film companies from other countries come here regularly to shoot reality (and other) stuff, in the same way that this Indian company was filming in Thailand for a Pakistani TV show.

It’s not just on our own shows that safety is something for us locals to worry about – we also really need to keep an eye on people coming into our country. The various guilds in New Zealand are aware of this, but we hope that all industry people will do their bit to make sure that companies coming into the country do in fact observe our safety protocols.

(Thanks to Murray Milne for bringing this story to our attention. Ed.)

And locally…

Of course, it’s not just in South-East Asia that accidents happen on film sets. It was disturbing to find out that in the Herald-on-Sunday tabloid in February there was an article about a journalist, Alice Neville, having a go at being an extra on a German TVC shoot in Auckland – and where a camera that was supposed to swoop down and stop just above the heads of some performers missed its mark and banged the lead actor on the head.

To quote: “There are gasps and cries of ‘She’s bleeding!’ And that she is, profusely… Blood is pouring down her face. Someone calls ‘That’s lunch!’ and we’re ushered away urgently.”

The sub-heading at the beginning of the article reads: “…the heroine was gashed in the head by a wildly swinging camera”!!!

Such sensationalistic reporting doesn’t make a great look for our industry, does it?

Accidents always have happened, and always will happen – but as we all know, many need not.

So, in the words of that wonderful American TV cop show:

‘’Hey - Let’s be careful out there!’’