Canberra Survivor's casting call for season 4

Over the past few years, a new community of Survivor fans has rallied together to make three seasons of competitive hijinks in the capital. The group’s YouTube series has garnered thousands of views, which they hope to add to with its upcoming fourth season to be filmed soon in November.

While founder and co-host Daniel Moore is working through the footage from last year’s shoot, which he hopes to publish at the start of next year, he has put a call-out for new participants to join the fun in what he says will be their boldest season yet.

Although the footage is filmed over one weekend, from early in the morning on Saturday to late in the evening on Sunday, it turns into a 10-episode season.

Dan is a self-taught editor with a full-time workload.

“Honestly, it’s quite an undertaking, but really, a pleasure to see all the fun we had when filming.”

Like the rest of this small community he has built, Dan started watching the original show with family and friends. Following the last lockdown, he and a couple of other die-hard fans were inspired to bring people together and give Canberrans a licence to be devious.

“I’ve had people from the show come up to me and say, ‘I’m really honest in real life, but when I play this game, I get to lie, cheat, and snake as many people as possible’.

“That’s what they want, not just to meet new people and get on-screen, but also to indulge that nefarious quality within them without the consequences,” says Dan.

Last season, 16 competitors took part, including some previous entrants who didn’t want to miss out on another year of fun.

As more people have come on board each year, Dan says their skill set has become more diverse.

Karleen, a player in season one, made a variety of props for season three, including immunity idols and snuffers, which Dan uses to dramatically extinguish the contestant’s flame symbolising their elimination.

“They just bring so much more authenticity to the reality show we all love,” says Dan.

“You can only do so much with the small budget we have, but we’ve had a lot of massive contributions like this, which makes it all so special.”

With similar fan-made series in other cities, Dan says he’s been in very early talks with people from Melbourne and Perth to get all the fan favourites competing in a final showdown.

For now, he hopes to get more locals involved, as so far, most applicants have been from Melbourne and Sydney, although some have even made the trek from Brisbane.

“There’s an 18-plus age limit, but if you’re worried about being too old or immobile for the fun, our challenges aren’t super physically demanding and we’re happy to make adaptations so that anyone can participate.

“We also welcome everyone from all walks of life. The more diverse the cast is, the better the show is.”

The upcoming season 4 shoot will take place at the Innabaanya campsite, just off the Majura Parkway.

“It’s mainly used for Girl Scouts, but we chose it for its proximity to the city,” Dan says.

“In past seasons, we’ve had to travel 40 to 45 minutes away, but now the crew will essentially be glamping.”

Want to compete or be part of the crew? Sign up on their website.