Unfortunately, I was informed of this particular protocol only hours before the crew was set to arrive at Mariscal Sucre International Airport that Friday evening. So immediately, therefore, I called the Customs Dispatch Director in Tumbaco, and now it turns out that drones are perfectly fine.įurthermore, I discovered that the government division known as the National Secretary of Communication would have to approve the script (a challenge, being that documentary film scripts are generally made after shooting, not before), and that in turn, the filming would then need approval by the Ministry of the Exterior, who would then notify Customs, and thus allow them to cancel the duty on the equipment. When I relayed this back to the production outfit in Canada, Les Stroud protested, and threatened to relocate the production to Peru. For example, when I went to the Customs office in Quito, I was informed that before the Stroud production crew arrived, Customs would need an equipment list - and that they could bring anything except unmanned aerial cameras known as drones. I made an offer that I would negotiate with all the agencies of the state in exchange for an opportunity to accompany them during the filming, a proposal they readily accepted. Nonetheless, there was a formidable challenge: The bureaucracy of Ecuador.
During the filming of that particular episode, Les met with the Huaorani, took part in an Ayahuasca ceremony, and was stalked by a jaguar. However, my principle contribution to this episode was not so much “behind the scenes,” as “before the scenes.” Aware of my experience with film and television production in Ecuador, I was contacted by a friend in Vilcabamba who had assisted Les Stroud in his first visit to the country back in 2006.
Les shroud survivorman series#
This writer had the good fortune to participate both as crew as well observer, and discover what goes on behind the scenes in the production of a series that reaches 120 countries and an audience in the millions. This Discovery Channel program, now known as “Survivorman and Son” because it features his 19 year-old son, Logan, originated the modern nature reality show on television that has become so popular. Ready to confront poisonous snakes, red ants, extreme heat and humidity, heavy rain, and the challenge of obtaining his own food and fresh water in the wild, Canada’s Les Stroud returned to Ecuador last May, ten years after his last visit, to film another episode of “Survivorman,” this time in Podocarpus National Park, located in the Zamora Chinchipe and Loja provinces.
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