Survivor EP Matt Van Wagenen Talks Future Returnees Seasons And The One Player He Couldn't Get Back For Season 50

The following interview was conducted on location in Fiji just hours after the "Survivor 50" marooning.

Watching the cast of "Survivor" Season 50 take their first steps in the sand, the energy was palpable. The starting gun on the show's first returnees run in 10 seasons was about to blast off and this mix of old-school icons and new era rising stars was fired up and ready for carnage.

It was my first trip to Fiji for "Survivor," but for executive producer Matt Van Wagenen, it wasn't his first rodeo. Not by a long shot. Signing on in Season 14 ("Survivor: Fiji"), the EP recalls just how special the show was from his very first minutes on set. "I remember [my] first day watching this group work, these hundreds of people, everyone knowing their roles and just seeing it happen. It's just awe-inspiring," he tells TVLine. 

This "Survivor"-loving journalist can now co-sign that sentiment and confirm that the awe is still alive and thriving in Fiji. After watching the crew film the season's first scene and challenge (see it all go down on CBS February 25 at 8/7c), I hopped a boat from Castaway Island (the actual filming site of Tom Hanks' "Castaway") to Mana, the show's base camp where hundreds of crew members live, eat, and greet each other like family. It's there where I sit down with Van Wagenen, a man who's not just a reality TV EP, but a true fan of the show himself — he even has Jason Siska's stick from "Micronesia" in his office! In our chat below, he walks us through inviting the largest cast the show has ever seen to Fiji (which meant expanding the show's already massive operation), and details everything that goes into his day-to-day role as a producer living behind-the-scenes in paradise. He also weighs in on whether fans will have to wait six more years for another returning players season.

TVLINE | "Survivor 50" is off and running! How are you feeling about the cast overall and what's to come?
MATT VAN WAGENEN | I love the cast. There's a lot of voices in it, but I was one of the voices, so these are people who I've wanted to see play over the years. I think it's a great mixture of all the different eras and different types of players. The truth is there were a lot of people who could have filled these spots, but as we talked to them there was just — and not to say that anyone else doesn't have these characteristics — but they all had some joy in their heart about playing and I think today, I don't know how you felt, but watching them today kind of spoke to that. The reverence they have for the game, for the excitement they have, and just for the energy and joy, the love of it. That was really, to me, palpable today at the marooning.

TVLINE | Was there any particular player who, in your opinion, was the one who got away?
I'll tell you one person who I wanted to see play and who said no. We probably asked him five times, and that's John Cochran. I wanted Cochran to play. He's one of my all-time favorites and he has all the things we were looking for. He hasn't played in a while, so he's got an interesting story. He's a different person than he was the last time he played. It's been like 13 years. He brings an energy and excitement. He's a one-name player. He kind of has everything and he's one of my favorite people to ever play the game. I asked him, almost jokingly, during the "Survivor 49" finale when I saw him. I said, 'OK, is it too late? Can you play 50?' And he's like, 'I don't wanna do it. I don't. I can't do it. I left on the perfect note. I don't want to foul that up,' but he's someone who I would have loved to have seen play.

TVLINE | As an executive producer, what's the anticipation like the night before a marooning?
You know what's funny? I said this to people this morning. Usually I'm eerily calm. Sometimes it's the best sleep I have the whole season. Not this time. I was tossing and turning. I woke up like five times. There was a big rainstorm and windstorm last night. Maybe that was part of it, but I had a different anticipation this time than I've had leading into the season. I don't know if I can explain it myself. There's so much expectation. There's so much nervous energy. This is probably a little too in the weeds, but this is a little bit of a longer pre-week than we normally have because of all the press and everything leading up to this. So the anticipation is felt. We felt it. This has been a season in the making for well over a year, so we've been waiting for this moment. There's been a lot of questions and anticipation, so the night before, to answer your question, this season, didn't sleep well. Very, very excited. Very nervous, which over the last few years has not been a familiar feeling.

TVLINE | What does your day-to-day look like on location now that the season is officially in production?
Days are long and with 24 players, there are going to be a lot of Tribal Councils, so we have busy nights. On a regular day, it usually starts with downloading the challenge crews on what's going on out on the beaches, so they know what stories to look for when they're covering the challenge, what's going on with certain characters. Then, we've got a challenge which we're shooting and I'm meeting up with the producers who are out on the beach to see if there are any updates. And then obviously assisting in any way and being involved in the actual shooting of the challenge. Then we usually have a rehearsal for the challenges which we're involved in. We're just trying to do the final tweaks on a challenge before we're ready to shoot. And then usually, a test block — we usually do a test block rehearsal and then we shoot the challenge — and the test block is just some of the general, figuring out if everything's going to work as it should.

Then, at the end of the day, we have a producer download meeting where all the segment producers, we all sit in my office and get a download of what happened. We're talking about what happened, but we're also sometimes already coming with ideas about how we're going to tell that story in post[-production], and those are only on nights we don't have Tribal Council. If we have Tribal Council, then [I'm] meeting up with the producers before Tribal and sitting in the control room and watching Tribal. Throughout the course of the day, there's so many different things that can come up, whether it's taking a look at something that's being built in Art, whether it's checking in on some of the Dream Teamers who we have been bringing up in the ranks. As you can see, — I mean, you've only spent a few days here — but you can see there's always so many moving parts that we're doing. My first season was Season 14 and I remember [my] first day watching this group work, these hundreds of people, everyone knowing their roles and just seeing it happen. It's just awe inspiring.

TVLINE | Twenty-four castaways is a lot of people, the biggest cast the show has ever seen. Did you increase the amount of cameras and/or camera crews for "50"?
We've added more camera crews, more sound, more producers. Usually seasons these days are 18 [players], now we go up to 24, so it's a big add. You think about how much time we have to spend just doing interviews, so suddenly we need to bring in another producer. So where a lot of times you might have just one producer and segment producer out on the beach, we're having two producers handling it, sometimes three producers. The amount of people who are involved, the amount of people who are playing, to cover those stories... and the same with the camera crews. We're also keeping the camera crews longer. It's a Herculean effort, for sure. Luckily, being around for so long, we have so many experienced crew. There are also some camera operators who are getting new opportunities to be elevated a little bit, but yes, we've increased the size to handle 24 players.

TVLINE | Being here and speaking with so many of the crew, it's clear that everyone here absolutely loves this show. What's your favorite part of the production process? 
Honestly, the last thing we do... there's pre-production, there's the production, and then in post-production, we're putting it all together, and the last bit of post-production is the mix. It's the last thing we do and at that point, the show has been completed. The episode has been completely edited. We're just changing the levels on the music, we're adding little bits of sound effects here or there. The show has been color corrected, all the details have been finished. It's an extraordinarily gratifying feeling to watch a completed episode because you're talking about months and months' worth of work finished.  

Don't get me wrong, there are so many highlights when we're out here producing. I used to be a producer on the beach and I got to see epic "Survivor" moments in person. I was on the beach when the Black Widow brigade convinced Erik Reichenbach to give up immunity. I mean, watching that in person, epic! I got to see the, 'It's a f—king stick,' moment. I have that stick sitting in my office. I got to see some amazing things. Here, I don't spend time on the beach, but I spend time at challenges. To see Christian Hubicki talking to Alec Merlino on a challenge for six hours [on "David vs. Goliath"], all these things are great and seeing it as a "Survivor" fan myself, watching it play out in front of you is amazing. But there is something about watching something that hundreds of people have worked [on] together. To finally have the finished product, that's extraordinarily gratifying.

TVLINE | There's so much hype and anticipation for "Survivor 50." Will that influence the amount of returning player seasons we see in the future?
I think it's too early to say. I feel like from "40" to "50," it went by so fast and the casting process in these last few years has been so much fun. I think there's more people who are attracted to "Survivor" right now. Sometimes we're like, 'OK, it feels like it's time for a returning player [season]' and we just haven't until "50." We've always known "50," so could there be one in "55"? Sure, but we could also just keep rolling till "60" or "65" or "70." But, I think "Second Chance" is one of our best seasons. I loved it. I didn't love "Game Changers." I felt like that was... I think we went too soon to a returning player season. We haven't done returning players in a while, so for a lot of these players, it's only their second chance. I feel like when it's your second chance, you come out pretty hungry, swinging. I also loved "Fans vs. Favorites 2." John Cochran. Shout out.

TVLINE | Alright, Matt, hit me with some predictions! Who's going far, and who might be in trouble from the jump?
What's funny is, the person who's impressed me the most as far as like, 'Wow, I wasn't necessarily expecting that,' has been Jenna [Lewis-Dougherty]. Jenna is a killer. She said to us the other day, 'I was playing the new era game back in Season 8, and I don't think anyone saw it or appreciated it at the time, so I'm already there.' She has come in with such energy. She walked around Ponderosa wearing a Discman and headphones, and she says, 'I want people to see that I have a Discman, so they look at me as the old lady who doesn't know how to use an iPod or an MP3 player. I want them to think that, but I'm here to take their lunch. I'm here to dominate.' To see her fire has been super impressive. You can't help but think she's going to do well. (Read our interview with Jenna here.)

She's the one who's been the biggest surprise, but the people who might be in trouble? I think winners, always on returning player seasons, have some heat on them. Season 40, that wasn't the case because they were all winners, but I've been on the show. I've seen a lot of returning player seasons, and winners tend to have attention. It worked out for Sandra back in Season 20, though.

I think the Season 49 players, just because of the mystery of who they are, they're the only two players out there that people don't know really well. They come in with a little bit of a question mark, and we've seen players do that before. We've seen Russell Hantz. We've seen Zeke Smith. We've seen people playing where [others] don't quite have an idea who they are. Those people did well in their returning player seasons, but I think that just the mere mystery of those two players is going to be something that they're going to have to overcome. 

Is your buzz building for "Survivor 50"? Check out more of our Season 50 preview content here, then light up the comments!