Working Crew on Survivor TV Show

Working Crew on Survivor TV Show: pt 5- Cruising on Crew

Critical Mass Week came and went. The entire Survivor film crew was finally comfortably housed in tents and bungalows. Filming got underway.

My department shifted from a state of chaotic busy-ness into ‘cruise control’. My team’s new role was maintaining the ‘camp’: the rooms, tents, linens and daily needs of the entire film & production crew.

That entailed many cleaning duties: maintaining the showers, toilets, offices and grounds. We had a whole slew of miscellaneous tasks to keep the whole area clean. We also responded to endless personal requests: a fan, some rope, forgotten linens, new batteries.

Survivor Thailand production – Thai crew working during ‘cruise control’

Once a week we spent an entire day on ‘linen duty’. We collected dirty linens from over 200 tents, replaced them with clean linens, bagged and weighed the dirty linens, then sent them all out on a ship to be cleaned on the Thai mainland.

I was assigned to ride a bus with the laundry over to the other side of the island to make sure it all got onto the ferry. That trip was always immensely enjoyable. I got to ride across the lush tropical island and then check out the show’s Tribal Council Set – a beautifully-made Thai temple. I often got ‘stuck’ over there awaiting the bus for a couple hours.

A great aspect of ‘cruise control’ for me was being permanently put on the ‘late shift’ 9:30-9:30. No longer did I have to get up ultra early. After work I often hung out at the crew bar with all my new pals- cameramen, gaffers, marine guys, lighting techs. Other times I went to bed early and got up early to enjoy a few hours on the beach before work.

visiting the art department on Survivor Thailand

I also finally got one day off every week. So although I was still working 12 hours per day, my job was much less exhausting than the weeks leading up to Critical Mass. In fact, it seemed down-right cushy!

I was re-instated to the position I was originally hired for: Thai translator for the Unit Department.

(As I explained in Life On Crew, soon after being hired I inadvertently ended up taking on many more tasks and responsibilities than translator- to the point of finally serving as the main supervisor of my team for a week.)

Now that my unit was on cruise control and all the key people in our department were back in full swing after stints at the hospital, my immediate supervisors recommended I lay back and simply handle any actual translation help they needed.

part of the fleet of bicycles I was in charge of maintaining on Survivor Thailand

With heaps of extra time on my hands, I was given a new job. I became the ‘official bicycle mechanic’ for Survivor Thailand, in charge of maintaining and repairing a fleet of 55 bicycles. Since I’d been cycle-touring around Asia solo for five years by then, I had all the necessary skills for the job.

First I placed an order of required tools and spare parts. Then I set about maintaining the fleet. I didn’t have to handle any serious repairs. I mainly kept gears and chains oiled, repaired punctured tires, occasionally changed a cable or broken chain, and re-packed a few axle bearings. Easy stuff.

As bike mechanic I pretty much went off on my own every day fixing bikes. I was relieved of most cleaning duties with my team. Even better, during my mechanic rounds I ended up chatting with crew members from many different departments: artists, gaffers, lighting and sound people, cameramen, editors, marine guys. I made a lot of new, interesting friends.

visiting some camera pals on their day off

I also began cutting hair in exchange for drinks at the bar or other exchanges.

Most of my days were filled by cruising around with my bicycle repair kit, repairing bikes, chatting, and cutting hair. In evenings, I generally joined my department team for the final cleaning rounds. And I helped with a few other weekly tasks like linen days.

All in all, ‘cruise control’ was exactly that: cruise-y.

On the other hand, I did gradually discover a few negative aspects of my solo job. Basically, I quickly fell ‘out of the loop’ with my department. Since I wasn’t doing many tasks with the Thai crew or general unit department, I didn’t know what was going on from day to day.

Thai crew packing up tents

After being fully immersed in setting up and organizing an entire tent city, it was pretty bizarre to suddenly come across things that I’d had no hand in, such as a whole block of tents that had been taken down or a new group of people who’d arrived and been given housing.

I also became rather disengaged from the Thai crew. We continued saying hello and chatting when we met up around camp, but they seemed to have taken it PERSONALLY that I wasn’t working with them anymore. As if I’d abandoned them. They took up closer allegiance with the new girl, Ruby, who had replaced me. I felt a bit alienated, especially after the crew and I had built up such a great rapport together.

Thai crew with Ruby and myself on Survivor Thailand

Then about two weeks into cruise mode, I lost my production radio at our boss’s birthday party. Suddenly, I was completely out of the loop since I could not longer hear the general tasks, jokes and information being passing around all day. Nor could anyone call me.

here’s me driving my ATV on Survivor Thailand

Another disappointment was that I no longer got to drive the cool ATVs. On a good note, the production office soon issued me a new radio and, ‘WOW’, I got connected again.

My leisurely life on ‘cruise control’ lasted about one month during the filming of Survivor Thailand, up until we began packing up containers and tearing down our tent city.

* Join my next update, when I dish out behind-the-scenes filming of The Challenges and Tribal Council on Survivor Thailand.

You might also like the previous tales in this series:

pt 1- How I Got Picked up to Crew Survivor Thailand