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 newest 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 every other.

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 purpose of “Reel Rivals” is straightforward: 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 have to navigate unpredictable challenges, reeling in every thing from sharks to mahi mahi, all whereas proving that influencer-led content material is altering the fact TV panorama.

“I wished 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 always filtering every thing that we submit, so I wished to push a unique narrative and present that there are different sides to creators. We simply don’t discover it sufficient.”

With so many relationship exhibits on the market already crammed with “over-scripted” and “repetitive” relationship drama, Isla wished to try to “create the identical drama by way of competitors and high-pressure conditions.”

“You’d see that a variety of instances on actuality exhibits like ‘Wipeout,’ which has impediment programs and is a really physical-based competitors,” she advised The Blast. “I personally love these sorts of exhibits and watching individuals get wrecked a bit of bit. It is type of humorous. I really feel like I am making a present that I wish to watch. I do know from my fan base that folks actually like watching fishing, so I wished 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’d “let it trip out.”

“Clearly, we’ve got 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 truly occurred,” she defined. “It’s more durable, but it surely’s refreshing. It comes off tremendous personable.”

So why influencers? Nicely, Isla mentioned 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 fascinating individuals,” she advised The Blast. “Via 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 wish to be on-line and share their persona, versus actuality stars who be part of these exhibits [whose] focus is totally different.”

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

“I knew that if I wished to base a present on influencers, I needed to present them on the social media aspect of issues,” she mentioned. “I additionally knew I wished to enchantment to influencers, in order that’s why having a social media presence for the present was a giant precedence. It makes a present much more partaking, and it’s one thing that’s lacking from some actuality TV. You could kind your group.”

Her ardour for filming performed a key function all through the manufacturing course of. With a robust understanding of digital camera work, she supplied enter on efficient angles, visually interesting pictures, and one of the best gear to make use of. She additionally knew the best way to talk these concepts to the director of pictures.

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

Lots of the forged and crew initially shaped their impressions of Isla by way of her social media presence, the place she is thought for her playful and lighthearted persona. Nonetheless, they have been quickly shocked by her potential to change gears and take a extra skilled, business-minded method when mandatory.

One of many largest challenges she confronted was defining her internet hosting type. Over the course of the season, she progressively 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 a giant problem, particularly when there have been days that have been too wavy,” she admitted. “And we’d should fish within the intercoastal space in Florida. We’d be questioning if we even have an episode.”

“Whereas fishing sooner or later, one of many contestants caught a very huge barracuda, however then an angler who is thought to everybody in Florida as Mark The Shark got here by on his boat and rode over our line, and it bought caught, and we misplaced the fish,” Isla teased. “We have been all screaming at one another. One of the best 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 in addition showcases the rising affect of creator-led actuality TV,

“That is positively solely the beginning,” she mentioned of the way forward for creator-driven actuality competitors. “The movie business underestimates influencers in terms of casting us in stuff. Creators will be a part of the forged members, however they’ve so much to supply behind the scenes as effectively in terms of making choices on the artistic aspect 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, have been saying how refreshing it was for them. Additionally, not everybody goes to be one of the best actor, but when you consider the advertising and marketing aspect of issues, it is tremendous cool to have individuals who have an viewers to advertise your present. We’re getting a variety of traction primarily based on simply having all of those individuals we will cross-promote with.”

Isla emphasised how excited she is to see how the “response morphs because the present progresses and at the same time as 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 aspect 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 concerning the money prize,” Isla advised The Blast. “Everybody wished to be in as many episodes as they might. There’s some spicy rivalry between the man versus woman episode, although.”