activeTV revealed a lot more details about season 2 of The Amazing Race Philippines in a press release today.
Confirming a grand prize of P2 million from PLDT Home Telpad, 2 house and lots from RCD Royal Homes and 2 brand new Kia Sportage cars, the press release also confirmed the new season would air for 10 weeks on TV5.
activeTV touted overseeing the entire production of the series; from casting to scouting locations to final production.
Director and activeTV president Michael McKay who earlier tweeted: “The Amazing Race Philippines season 2 is going to a seriously good one,” talked about the challenges of doing a nightly version of the Race instead of the usual weekly one-hour episodes. McKay says TAR creator Bertram van Munster, ABC Disney and activeTV worked together to develop a format that would suit the nightly format unique to The Amazing Race Philippines.
Included in that development was dropping the Fast Forward and making sure to maintain TAR’s signature pace while keeping action condensed in half-hour installments.
McKay also raved about the beauty of the Philippines while TV5 Vice President and Production Unit Head Margie C. Natividad complimented the foreign crew members who also fell in love with the Philippines and helped create what she hopes is another award worthy piece of work. The Amazing Race Philippines won a Golden Screen Award for its first season.
Here is the full press release:
activeTV Asia completes another season of The Amazing Race Philippines 2
Sep 23, 2014
SINGAPORE – Major production house, activeTV Asia, today announced the completion of The Amazing Race Philippines Season 2.
For the first time ever, viewers will get to enjoy a nightly half hour version of award-winning American series, The Amazing Race, in this second season of the show.Set to air on 6 October 2014 exclusively on free to air broadcaster TV5, The Amazing Race Philippines will be broadcast every day from Mondays to Sundays for 10 weeks. Viewers can now catch the exciting action and real-life drama in condensed half-hour episodes every day. Typically, each episode of The Amazing Race is an hour-long and aired once a week, so the nightly version created a number of challenges for activeTV to overcome.
The Amazing Race Philippines 2, hosted by Derek Ramsay, will see 11 teams of two, race around the country, in a bid to be the last team standing, and win the coveted title as winners of The Amazing Race Philippines 2 and cash prize of ₱2 million from PLDT Home Telpad, 2 house and land lots from RCD Royal Homes and 2 brand new Kia Sportage cars.
Riding on the success of its first season in 2012, activeTV assembled an international team of experienced producers and a vast team of local crew for The Amazing Race Philippines 2, and oversaw the entire production of the series. From casting, to scouting of locations in the Philippines to final production, the activeTV crew handled every aspect of what is regarded as the most complex of reality shows.
Directed by Michael McKay, President of activeTV, a total of 39 cameras were used throughout the filming process to capture the thrilling competition and action of the teams, as well as the scenic landscapes of Philippines.
“The challenges of a nightly version were considerable from a production and planning view point and co-creator Bertram van Munster, ABC Disney and our team worked closely together to develop a format that would suit the half hour, nightly format,” McKay said.
“This meant dropping the Fast Forward and ensuring the action could be condensed into half hour installments but still keep the pace that The Amazing Race is famous for,” McKay added, obviously delighted with the outcome.
“We have an amazing team behind this season, with their wide array of expertise and experience. I believe we have produced a fantastic season with a diverse cast, and captured the beauty of the Philippines from a myriad of angles. Beyond the competition, I am proud to see The Amazing Race series showcasing what a beautiful and fascinating country the Philippines is”.
“I think I’ve seen more of the country than most Filipinos. It is a stunningly diverse and beautiful country and I loved shooting this series”.
Margie C. Natividad, Vice President, Production Unit Head Entertainment TV of TV5 Network Inc. shared, “The Amazing Race is undoubtedly one of the world’s most watched TV programs and it has found its home in the Philippines at TV5.”
“Aside from winning the award of Outstanding Adapted Reality Program in the recent Golden Screen TV Awards (given by The Entertainment Press Society), once again, TV5 is out to prove that there is more to Philippine primetime television than soap operas with the upcoming season of The Amazing Race Philippines 2.”
“In this second installment of American TV franchise in the Philippines, the obstacles are made more exciting, more thrilling, and more amazing in different destinations across the country for the 11 hopeful pairs who will try to surpass each other to be first to reach the finish line. This season’s audition turnout was 400% higher than the last season with aspiring races coming from all points of the archipelago,” Natividad added.
“With the help of activeTV, the second season has definitely changed the way our racers strategise and prepare their game plan. Their expertise on putting up a great race has made this season even life-changing for some of the racers as relationships have become stronger. The race around the Philippines will definitely showcase the beauty of the different islands that we have conquered. It is also remarkable that the production staff is composed of so many races and different nationalities yet we only have one goal, and that is to create great content with high production value. What’s even more amazing is that all foreign crews fell in love instantaneously with the Philippines. If only for that, TV5 is proud to have partnered with the best in the industry. Thank you to activeTV Asia for this awesome experience and we hope to add up another award and recognition for this excellent work,” said Natividad.
The Amazing Race Philippines 2 is the third race for activeTV this year. activeTV was previously involved in the latest American version of The Amazing Race Season 25 with CBS and Worldrace Productions, and is currently producing The Amazing Race Israeli Season 4 with Reshet TV.