Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched “World’s Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji,” streaming now on Amazon.
The 11 day, 416-mile “world’s toughest race” is back. After an 18-year hiatus realty tv mastermind Mark Burnett resurrected the “Eco-Challenge” for new audiences on Amazon Prime Video. Set in Fiji, this epic quest invited 66 teams from across the globe to compete against each other and the elements through oceans, rivers, jungles and up mountainsides.
Here, executive producer Lisa Hennessy, an “Eco-Challenge” veteran, talks with Variety about how 700 people worked together to film this new reality show, including mixing tales of physical challenges with those whose real battles were with their own self-determination.
When did you discover adventure racing?
I started working on “Eco-Challenge” in 1994. On April 25th, 1995, Mark Burnett said, “Go,” in the deserts of southern Utah, and that’s when it all began. I’ve been fortunate enough...
The 11 day, 416-mile “world’s toughest race” is back. After an 18-year hiatus realty tv mastermind Mark Burnett resurrected the “Eco-Challenge” for new audiences on Amazon Prime Video. Set in Fiji, this epic quest invited 66 teams from across the globe to compete against each other and the elements through oceans, rivers, jungles and up mountainsides.
Here, executive producer Lisa Hennessy, an “Eco-Challenge” veteran, talks with Variety about how 700 people worked together to film this new reality show, including mixing tales of physical challenges with those whose real battles were with their own self-determination.
When did you discover adventure racing?
I started working on “Eco-Challenge” in 1994. On April 25th, 1995, Mark Burnett said, “Go,” in the deserts of southern Utah, and that’s when it all began. I’ve been fortunate enough...
- 8/21/2020
- by Meredith Woerner
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon is bringing back Mark Burnett’s endurance race competition format Eco-Challenge with a ten-episode order.
The Svod platform has commissioned Eco-Challenge 2019, to be hosted by Man Vs Wild and Running Wild star Bear Grylls and produced by MGM Television. The announcement comes three months after Burnett and Grylls revealed that they had partnered to bring back the classic format that put Burnett on the reality TV map and was a precursor to his CBS hit Survivor. It is Amazon’s most significant non-scripted entertainment order since it launched The Grand Tour with former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
The show, which will air globally, will pit teams of four competitors selected from around the world against each other and nature’s harsh elements in a grueling 24-hours a day, multi-day race. If one teammate quits the entire team is disqualified. The 2019 location for the...
The Svod platform has commissioned Eco-Challenge 2019, to be hosted by Man Vs Wild and Running Wild star Bear Grylls and produced by MGM Television. The announcement comes three months after Burnett and Grylls revealed that they had partnered to bring back the classic format that put Burnett on the reality TV map and was a precursor to his CBS hit Survivor. It is Amazon’s most significant non-scripted entertainment order since it launched The Grand Tour with former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond.
The show, which will air globally, will pit teams of four competitors selected from around the world against each other and nature’s harsh elements in a grueling 24-hours a day, multi-day race. If one teammate quits the entire team is disqualified. The 2019 location for the...
- 10/2/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Mark Burnett has enlisted Bear Grylls for a revival of the outdoor adventure series “Eco-Challenge” from MGM Television.
The reality competition series, which first ran for 10 seasons beginning in 1995, featured teams of four racing 24 hours a day over a rugged 300-mile multi-country course using skills including mountaineering, horseback riding, sea kayaking, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, camel riding and canyoneering.
Burnett and Grylls’ will executive produce the new series, along with Grylls’s producing partner Delbert Shoopman and Burnett’s adventure production team of Lisa Hennessy, Scott Flavelle and Kevin Hodder.
Also Read: Kevin Hart to Host CBS Obstacle Course Game Show 'Tko: Total Knock Out'
“The most asked question in my entire career is ‘will you ever bring back Eco-Challenge?’ and I’d always known we needed the correct authentic figure head to lead us forward effectively,” Burnett said in a statement. “Bear Grylls is that leader. He’s tough,...
The reality competition series, which first ran for 10 seasons beginning in 1995, featured teams of four racing 24 hours a day over a rugged 300-mile multi-country course using skills including mountaineering, horseback riding, sea kayaking, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, camel riding and canyoneering.
Burnett and Grylls’ will executive produce the new series, along with Grylls’s producing partner Delbert Shoopman and Burnett’s adventure production team of Lisa Hennessy, Scott Flavelle and Kevin Hodder.
Also Read: Kevin Hart to Host CBS Obstacle Course Game Show 'Tko: Total Knock Out'
“The most asked question in my entire career is ‘will you ever bring back Eco-Challenge?’ and I’d always known we needed the correct authentic figure head to lead us forward effectively,” Burnett said in a statement. “Bear Grylls is that leader. He’s tough,...
- 6/7/2018
- by Reid Nakamura
- The Wrap
Adventurer Bear Grylls and producer Mark Burnett have teamed to revive the “Eco-Challenge” race franchise that launched Burnett’s career in unscripted TV.
Grylls will host and executive produce with Burnett for MGM Television a new edition of the 1990s adventure series. “Eco-Challenge” sends more than 50 teams out on a 300-mile adventure course that encompasses mountaineering, horseback riding, sea kayaking, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, camel riding and more. Each team has four members, two men and two women.
Burnett, who is also president of MGM Television and Digital, created “Eco-Challenge” in 1992 when he was at the outset of his TV career. The first race was held in Utah in 1995. The series ran for 10 cycles over eight years on Discovery Channel and USA Network. It was the precursor to Burnett’s enduring reality franchise, CBS’ “Survivor.”
MGM TV is about to shop the revived “Eco-Challenge” to buyers. The hope is to...
Grylls will host and executive produce with Burnett for MGM Television a new edition of the 1990s adventure series. “Eco-Challenge” sends more than 50 teams out on a 300-mile adventure course that encompasses mountaineering, horseback riding, sea kayaking, mountain biking, whitewater rafting, camel riding and more. Each team has four members, two men and two women.
Burnett, who is also president of MGM Television and Digital, created “Eco-Challenge” in 1992 when he was at the outset of his TV career. The first race was held in Utah in 1995. The series ran for 10 cycles over eight years on Discovery Channel and USA Network. It was the precursor to Burnett’s enduring reality franchise, CBS’ “Survivor.”
MGM TV is about to shop the revived “Eco-Challenge” to buyers. The hope is to...
- 6/7/2018
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Adventure TV staples Mark Burnett and Bear Grylls are partnering to bring back Eco-Challenge, the endurance race series that launched Burnett’s reality TV career and served as a precursor to his hit Survivor. The plan is for the new incarnation from Burnett-led MGM Television to select a TV partner and location with an eye on a late 2019 production start.
The original series created by Burnett ran 10 editions over eight years beginning in 1995 on MTV. Later editions — in locales from Australia and Morocco to Patagonia, Borneo, Canada, New Zealand and Fiji — aired on ESPN and Discovery Channel, with the 1996 British Columbia race winning Burnett his first Emmy. The race aired on USA Network until 2002.
“The most asked question in my entire career is ‘Will you ever bring back Eco-Challenge? and I’d always known we needed the correct authentic figure head to lead us forward effectively,” said Burnett, whose credits also include The Apprentice,...
The original series created by Burnett ran 10 editions over eight years beginning in 1995 on MTV. Later editions — in locales from Australia and Morocco to Patagonia, Borneo, Canada, New Zealand and Fiji — aired on ESPN and Discovery Channel, with the 1996 British Columbia race winning Burnett his first Emmy. The race aired on USA Network until 2002.
“The most asked question in my entire career is ‘Will you ever bring back Eco-Challenge? and I’d always known we needed the correct authentic figure head to lead us forward effectively,” said Burnett, whose credits also include The Apprentice,...
- 6/7/2018
- by Nellie Andreeva and Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
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