Little did we know what was coming our way, when Junior Producer Lisa Esser from RTL Cologne Germany contacted us in May -21.
Aside from finding the right wintery location, RTL was looking for a service production company that could support them on the project from A to Z. Overall structure, snowhow, transportation, location scouting, shooting permits etc.
The most important thing was the main Villa, where the fourteen competitors stayed at. Out of the options we scouted, RTL chose a former bankers` luxury log cabin from the 80´s, in northern Lapland, Finland.
Our crew, around ninety Germans and forty Finns, ended up staying in Lapland for a month, where the temperatures were all-time low, dropping to -37 degrees Celsius already in November/early December. This was not a piece of cake for the production. Our biggest awe goes to the German reality stars and crew, how they managed to cope with the coldness, and the depth of snow reaching up to 40 cm.
We cooperated in creating the stunts, in building and securing the challenges together with the German Art Director, Finnish stunt coordinator and his team. Among the many stunts, there were husky riding, ice karting, 5meter high snow wall climbing, ice hockey on frozen lake ice, and under-ice free diving, which in the end proved out to be the most challenging stunt even though everyone succeeded. In this reality game show, the prize was 100.000 euros, so it was obviously a good motivator.
From Executive Producer Philip Morawietz, RTL Studios:
“Dear Couple Challenge Winter Team, The thanks go to each and every one of you, everyone has contributed a part to make this production possible. Without your terrific support, none of this would have been possible. We have reached our limits here, but we are convinced that the hard work has paid off and that a wonderful “Special Couple Challenge Season“ will be created.”
