BU scholar’s ‘Survivor’ sequence is a time capsule of the Palisades

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What began in his childhood as a “enjoyable little mission” advanced right into a longstanding sequence that has turn out to be a logo of hope for the Palisades’ future. 

Simply three days after he evacuated his Los Angeles house in January due to lethal wildfires, Emmett Whitaker returned to the Pacific Palisades by way of footage of his fan-made “Survivor” sequence.

“Each single day, I have a look at footage of what it was. It’s exhausting while you see it 24/7 simply to appreciate that it’s not what it’s anymore,” Whitaker stated. 

“Survivor” incorporates a group of contestants who’re stranded in a distant location, divided into tribes, and compelled to compete towards one another in a sequence of video games to win a $1 million prize. The franchise is a traditional, and can hit its fiftieth season subsequent yr. 

Whitaker, a Boston College sophomore, has self-funded, solid, produced, and edited 5 seasons of “Survivor Palisades,” his tribute to the unique present, since 2018, with 4 seasons filming when he was ages 11 to fifteen years previous. Every season was filmed within the lush, picturesque Palisades.

What began in his childhood as a “enjoyable little mission” advanced right into a longstanding sequence and turn out to be a logo of hope for the Palisades’ future. 

The hearth killed 12 folks throughout the Palisades and Malibu neighborhoods, pressured 1000’s to evacuate, and scorched houses and properties, devastating the group and panorama.

Whitaker’s “Survivor Palisades” is at present on its “All-Stars” season, which premiered Sept. 25 and releases new episodes every Thursday on YouTube.

“I used to be actually shocked that nearly everybody who had performed earlier than needed to play once more,” Whitaker stated. “I used to be in a position to finally get right down to a solid of 12 All-Stars who had all made it actually far within the recreation to come back again yet another time to play.”

He utilized a $1,500 finances — allotted from his tip cash working as a busboy — to supply every season, which expanded as he received older from his household pals to folks making use of throughout the LA space. 

“As an alternative of 12 cameras, it was 22. As an alternative of a 20 particular person crew, it was a few 60 particular person crew throughout pre-production by way of publish manufacturing,” he stated.  

With the “All Stars” season filmed in June 2024 earlier than he flew throughout the nation for faculty, Whitaker spent his freshman yr at BU balancing courses and golf equipment, and labored on enhancing the present towards the top of his first yr, a seven month “tumultuous, meticulous, lengthy course of,” he stated. 

Whitaker, who’s finding out worldwide relations and movie at BU, stated “Survivor” is an exciting, “unintentionally hilarious” recreation of social politics, which is why he was drawn to it.

“Telling a narrative with ‘Survivor’ is absolutely, actually distinctive, since you set all the pieces up for that day and you set all of the playing cards in place, however you don’t know what’s going to occur,” Whitaker stated. 

Whitaker hosted a season premiere in August for contestants and the group, an occasion that evoked a combination of happiness and nostalgia from attendees, lots of whom had been displaced or misplaced their houses from the fires. 

“To ​​be capable to transport again into that world, as surreal as it’s, it’s actually particular to simply maintain that as a reminiscence,” he stated. “You’re watching and having fun with the present and also you’re engaged, after which keep in mind that all the pieces is simply gone, there’s nothing there proper now.”

With the season nearly midway by way of, Whitaker is anticipating being on a “break” from curating the present — it is going to mark the primary time he hasn’t had content material to sift by way of and edit since he was 11. 

“I don’t even know a world the place I don’t do something for this,” he stated. 

By means of each edit and watchparty hosted together with his pals, Whitaker is introduced again to the Palisades and the group he cherishes. 

“On the finish of the day, it’s simply folks being folks in an space that not exists,” Whitaker stated. “And so hopefully in 5 or 10 years, with some good rebuilding efforts and a few fundraising, that space can flourish and folks can simply be folks there once more.”