Influencers Take On The High Seas In OFTV’s New Reality Show ‘Reel Rivals’

Social media stars are swapping filters for fishing rods in “Reel Rivals,” the most recent actuality competitors present streaming on OFTV.

Produced by out of doors creator Isla Moon, the sequence brings collectively among the web’s most recognizable influencers for a high-stakes fishing problem in contrast to another.

Described as a combination between “Love Island Video games,” “Too Sizzling to Deal with,” and Nat Geo’s “Fish My Metropolis,” however with out the male gaze or pointless drama, the aim of “Reel Rivals” is easy: outfish the competitors and declare the $20,000 grand prize.

Among the many contestants vying for the title of final fishing champion are Ara Bozorgian (2.1M Instagram followers), Bryce Adams (1.3M followers), and Dan Dangler (1.6M followers), who will battle it out aboard a luxurious yacht in Miami.

The twist? None of them are skilled anglers. With zero fishing expertise, they need to navigate unpredictable challenges, reeling in every little thing from sharks to mahi mahi, all whereas proving that influencer-led content material is altering the truth TV panorama.

“I needed to take fashions who’re tremendous polished on Instagram and throw them someplace the place they will get down and soiled,” Moon solely advised The Blast. “As fashions, we’re continually filtering every little thing that we submit, so I needed to push a unique narrative and present that there are different aspects to creators. We simply don’t discover it sufficient.”

With so many courting reveals on the market already stuffed with “over-scripted” and “repetitive” relationship drama, Isla needed to try to “create the identical drama by competitors and high-pressure conditions.”

“You’ll see that plenty of instances on actuality reveals like ‘Wipeout,’ which has impediment programs and is a really physical-based competitors,” she advised The Blast. “I personally love these sorts of reveals and watching individuals get wrecked just a little bit. It is type of humorous. I really feel like I am making a present that I need to watch. I do know from my fan base that folks actually like watching fishing, so I needed to throw a bunch of individuals in that atmosphere and see what occurs.”

In regard to scripting, Isla confirmed they “determined to not script something and run with what occurs.” On set, if one thing occurred throughout the competitions, they might “let it trip out.”

“Clearly, now we have our define of how the present is structured, however throughout the modifying course of, the story editors would look over all of the footage and provide you with a narrative for every individual primarily based on what really occurred,” she defined. “It’s tougher, but it surely’s refreshing. It comes off tremendous personable.”

So why influencers? Nicely, Isla stated it is as a result of “we are sometimes misunderstood, however we all know what our audiences need.”

“Creators and influencers add an entire totally different perspective. They’re very attention-grabbing individuals,” she advised The Blast. “By working with all of those individuals on the present, I spotted how multifaceted they’re. There’s a lot to them, they usually’re greater than actors. They already need to be on-line and share their persona, versus actuality stars who be part of these reveals [whose] focus is totally different.”

Isla additional defined how being a creator influenced the best way she approached producing the brand new actuality present, explaining that due to her ardour, she is aware of what her viewers is in search of.

“I knew that if I needed to base a present on influencers, I needed to present them on the social media facet of issues,” she stated. “I additionally knew I needed to attraction to influencers, in order that’s why having a social media presence for the present was an enormous precedence. It makes a present much more participating, and it’s one thing that’s lacking from some actuality TV. It’s essential type your group.”

Her ardour for filming performed a key position all through the manufacturing course of. With a powerful understanding of digital camera work, she offered enter on efficient angles, visually interesting pictures, and the most effective gear to make use of. She additionally knew tips on how to talk these concepts to the director of images.

Past filming, her expertise prolonged to post-production, the place she was in a position to establish key components and supply clear course throughout the modifying course of.

Most of the forged and crew initially shaped their impressions of Isla by her social media presence, the place she is understood for her playful and lighthearted persona. Nevertheless, they had been quickly stunned by her potential to modify gears and take a extra skilled, business-minded strategy when essential.

One of many largest challenges she confronted was defining her internet hosting fashion. Over the course of the season, she step by step discovered her footing, evolving from a content material creator right into a assured host.

One other huge problem?  “Ensuring we had fish every time was an enormous problem, particularly when there have been days that had been too wavy,” she admitted. “And we’d need to fish within the intercoastal space in Florida. We’d be questioning if we even have an episode.”

“Whereas fishing in the future, one of many contestants caught a very huge barracuda, however then an angler who is understood to everybody in Florida as Mark The Shark got here by on his boat and rode over our line, and it received caught, and we misplaced the fish,” Isla teased. “We had been all screaming at one another. The perfect half was that his child drew an image of the occasion and Mark despatched it to us. It was hilarious.”

“Reel Rivals” not solely delivers high-stakes competitors but additionally showcases the rising affect of creator-led actuality TV,

“That is positively solely the beginning,” she stated of the way forward for creator-driven actuality competitors. “The movie trade underestimates influencers in relation to casting us in stuff. Creators might be a part of the forged members, however they’ve loads to supply behind the scenes as properly in relation to making choices on the artistic facet of issues. It provides an entire new perspective.”

She continued, “Even among the editors from our present who’ve been doing this for many years, had been saying how refreshing it was for them. Additionally, not everybody goes to be the most effective actor, but when you concentrate on the advertising and marketing facet of issues, it is tremendous cool to have individuals who have an viewers to advertise your present. We’re getting plenty of traction primarily based on simply having all of those individuals we are able to cross-promote with.”

Isla emphasised how excited she is to see how the “response morphs because the present progresses and whilst I’m going on to work on future initiatives.”

“Proper now, there’s some resistance, and a few individuals assume I’m leaving the influencer facet of issues and leaving them behind,” she added. “However hopefully, quickly, they’ll see that the purpose is to morph each of them collectively.”

And, with a $20,000 money prize on the road, how aggressive did issues actually get? “It was nearly extra of an ego competitors than in regards to the money prize,” Isla advised The Blast. “Everybody needed to be in as many episodes as they may. There’s some spicy rivalry between the man versus woman episode, although.”