Producer Brian Catalina talked to us about the challenges he encountered while filming in the Alaskan wilderness and the precautions the production company took to keep everyone safe.
How difficult was it to film The Alaska Experiment?
The logistics involved in setting up the show were brutal. The Alaskan wilderness truly is one of the most remote and dangerous places on earth, and it took a lot of planning to move the production crews in, make sure they were safe, and get them home again at the end.
I personally spent five weeks there at the start of production and lost 10 pounds in about 10 days. Everything is harder in Alaska. Just hiking from "A" to "B" can be really tough; the weather is constantly changing and challenging. There's a saying in Alaska: "If you don't like the weather, wait five minutes." There are no marked trails where we were and even our guides who were familiar with the area sometimes got lost.
We had to hire crew members who were not just talented, but rugged enough to withstand the punishing work environment. Temperatures in the Upper Chitina Valley dropped below minus 20 F while we were there and the cold and moisture were extremely hard on the batteries, camera and audio gear.
For example, the crew went on a grueling 20-mile trek with one of the groups, camping for seven nights straight and doing everything the volunteers did, while filming at the same time. They endured water and food shortages and extreme physical fatigue. Not only did they carry their own supplies, but they carried all the gear as well, which was roughly an additional 30 pounds per person.
We actually decided in advance to change out the crews halfway through the experiment because I was concerned that even the toughest members would not be able to make it through the full three months. Even though we had the "toughest of the tough" working on the show, judging from what they went through, it was a good decision.
How did the production teams function?
The producer/camera teams say this was the hardest show they've ever worked on. One shooter has shot on Everest three times and he found The Alaska Experiment to be as challenging as anything he's ever done. Just like the volunteers, some of them lived in primitive wilderness conditions.
In the Chitina Valley locations we put up crew tents called "Arctic Ovens" at a distance of about 100 yards from volunteers' shelters. The crew was out of sight, but within screaming distance. The tents are NOT particularly comfortable — the crew stayed there on a six-days-on/one-day-off basis with no showers, running water or toilets. The big difference for the production team was that we supplied fuel to heat their tents (the temperatures were subzero eventually) and we rotated them out to our production center for rest and recovery. We also supplied their food.
Apart from the volunteers, we also had wilderness experts staying about 100 yards apart from the volunteers' shelters. They were there to provide emergency assistance if necessary (CPR, treatment of sprains, serious cuts, etc.) and to protect against predators. Like the crew, they lived in Arctic Ovens with diesel-drip stoves and we supplied their food and fuel.
Because maintaining the integrity of the experiment was paramount, everyone on the crew was under strict instructions to interact with the volunteers only in case of emergency. But, of course, we had to have this safety net in case of serious injury, predator attack or a potentially deadly weather event.
What safety precautions did you take?
All the volunteers and crew were given homing beacons called EPIRBS so that if they got lost in a whiteout or got disoriented — easy in Alaska — we could find them. The wilderness experts also had high-caliber hunting rifles as emergency protection against predators like bears or wolves. When the volunteers trekked far from their shelters, the experts accompanied at a distance to protect them and the crew. Bear attacks were our biggest worry and a justifiable one, especially in places like Icy Bay, which has one of the largest concentrations of brown bears in Alaska.