Survivor Dream Team: Behind The Scenes Of The Coolest Job In Television — And The Man Who Makes It All Possible

Standing in the sands of Fiji is like stepping inside the backdrop of a World's Best Beaches calendar. For the crew of one of TV's longest running reality competition series, breathtaking sunsets and crystal-clear ocean waves are the norm, as they island-hop via boat from one glimpse of paradise to another. And test-running all of the "Survivor" challenges that pop up on our screens? The ultimate cherry on top.

Welcome to the life of the "Survivor" Dream Team, a group of production assistants that wears many hats behind the scenes of CBS' mainstay reality series. From helping with challenge rehearsals to work out kinks, to standing in for B-roll shots, lugging gear for shoots, and helping create props in the art department, this fierce tribe of young industry hopefuls gets a taste of all sorts of production work on set. But the real kicker? The amount of support and mentorship they receive while learning the ropes.

The Dream Team is a dream job for many of these young television professionals in training who live in Fiji on Mana Island for months at a time during the show's rigorous production schedule. (The show films back to back seasons from April to July.) When they're not on the clock, these close-knit Dream Teamers can be found hanging around bonfires or dipping into the ocean. During shifts that can last upward of 12 hours a day, they're hustling heavy gear all over the Mamanuca Islands, taking instruction from department heads and learning whatever craft they're interested in — drone photography, story producing, set design/construction, camera ops, and more. And it's all done under the sturdy guidance of the man who creates and designs the show's arduous challenges, John Kirhoffer.

Challenge Producer Kirhoffer has been with the show since its very first season, having created the Dream Team to provide production with a steady flow of twenty-somethings that could assist with the most physical tasks on set. Rehearsing the show's extremely difficult challenges is part of the fun, yes, but a spot on the Dream Team also serves as the training ground that springboards them into higher-level positions. Promoting from within is the modus operandi for "Survivor." According to Kirhoffer, mentoring the Dream Team is "100% the most rewarding part of my job." Members stay on the introductory team for about two years, give or take. From there, they often move up in the production's ranks, paving the way for the next group of lucky aspirants.

"The most important thing for me is seeing these young people who used to work for me and have been mentored by Jeff [Probst], [executive producer] Matt Van Wagenen, [co-EP] Hudson [Smith], my buddy Milhouse [a nickname given to Supervising Producer Christopher Marchand], Peter Wery in the camera department," Kirhoffer tells TVLine on location in Fiji. "All these people have taken these young people who are just so keen to learn camera, learn audio. And when I walk on set and now these people who used to be my PAs are my contemporaries, I just love it. I just love seeing them flourish and it is the most rewarding part of my job, easily."

When work brings you to an isolated island in the middle of the South Pacific, chances are your fellow colleagues will become family. That's exactly what often occurs on the set of "Survivor." Mana Island — aka, base camp, for those living there — is where hundreds of crew members live, eat, socialize, swim, and meet when they're not working a shift. There are even church services for religious folks, book club meetups, schools, and other activities for the dozens of children that live on the island with their parents during production. And some of those children were even brought into the world by former Dream Teamers who met and fell in love while on the job.

Co-EP Brittany Crapper met her husband Riley when she flew out to Samoa for her first season as a Dream Team member. The couple shares three children together, and 14 years later, Crapper says she pinches herself daily that she was lucky enough to land a spot on such a highly coveted team.

"It is like family," she says. "That's an understatement. We all have grown up together, essentially. Most people have been here for over 10 years. Now we've gotten to a time where everybody who's met is now here with their spouses who then had babies. My kids are growing up here on this island with a bunch of other kids and it's really a special thing. This show is so much more than just my career, it's my life and my family. [Kirhoffer] hired me fresh out of college. I was a child! I didn't know that this job would eventually shape and create my entire life."

Brittany and Riley Crapper, along with many of their colleagues, started out as Dream Teamers before settling into their chosen paths and departments. While Brittany's husband segued into props, she worked as a Dream Team Coordinator before testing the waters as a nighttime Segment Producer. That transitioned into full-time producing, eventually landing her a Co-EP title which "still blows my mind," she says. Now when she's in Fiji, she's out on the beach conducting interviews with the castaways and tracking all of the story arcs that develop. And Crapper's story — from getting her start out on the Dream Team to starting her own family because of the show — isn't a special case. Crew romances have led to 60+ babies. These 'lil tykes now make up their own mini tribe that runs wild, learns, and plays all over base camp.

Beautiful weather. A dream job in paradise. There has to be a downside, right? I ask Crapper what the most difficult part of her job is. "Honestly this is such a lame answer, but nothing," she says. "This is such a cheesy answer and I promise you it's not fake, but I feel gratitude and I don't have a negative thing to say. Maybe long hours? But you're having so much fun and you're learning so much. You're in it. I can't even put it into words. You don't look at it and [go] 'Oh this is so hard,' you're like, 'Oh my God, this is so hard, but it's so rewarding and so much fun.' [It's] such a great experience that you don't even care that it's hard work."

How does one get that golden ticket to Fiji? As the old adage goes, it's all about who you know. In the show's early days, Kirhoffer says they'd fly to location and put up flyers in youth hostels. Between that and word of mouth, they were able to fill the necessary slots. And then the internet happened. After Probst discussed the Dream Team in a behind-the-scenes video that circulated, the secret was out. Nowadays, it's still about knowing the right person, but candidates must also submit a 1-2-minute video along with a resume. Just like casting the show's players, they want to hear your story.

"Now, Milhouse and I go through a couple hundred of them to get a dozen new Dream Teamers," says Kirhoffer. "We don't advertise, they just come in. Matt, Hudson, and I talk to our old schools about 'Survivor,' and so we get interested young people. It's still a word-of-mouth kind of thing and it's just getting more and more popular."

Former Dream Teamer Zach Sundelius (who's now a Supervising Producer on the show) was one of those young people who saw Probst's video around the time of "Survivor: China" in 2007. Living in Wisconsin, Sundelius had zero connections in Los Angeles. But once he learned about the Dream Team, he thought to himself, "I gotta do that. I gotta make it happen."

Blindly sending resumes didn't get him anywhere, but social media did. He created a Twitter account named "Future Dream Team," and that was the first step toward changing his life forever. "[I] was chatting with random people on there and ended up talking to someone, [journalist] Gordon Holmes, who covered 'Survivor,'" Sundelius recalls. "He said, 'I can't guarantee anything, but I can send your resume along to the people I know there.' Then about a month later, they called me and then I was in Samoa for the Dream Team a month later."

Sundelius remembers "geeking out" for the first month he was on location, saying he was "over the moon" to be a part of the behind-the-scenes mechanics of a show he'd loved watching for years. "It was physically demanding, but every experience felt so huge," he remembers. "I always tell people that whatever I go on to do, the Dream Team was always my favorite job. That was always the coolest job I'm ever gonna have in my life. I peaked at age 24."

As a journalism major in college, Sundelius was almost immediately drawn to the storytelling aspect of the show. Naturally, he gravitated toward the producing side of things. Nowadays, he lives in Fiji during pre-production and production, but segues over to post-production work once the cameras stop rolling.

"Leading up to pre-production, there's lots of creative meetings about what the challenges are going to be, and what all the twists and turns of the season are going to be," he says. "It seems like we're always almost doing two seasons at once because even as we're gearing up to come out here for one, we're still in post finishing the editing for the previous one, so your brain is shifting a lot. Then once I'm out here, it's working with the director, producers, all the camera operators, and everyone else to ensure that the challenges go smoothly, that we're capturing great stuff. When I get to post, I oversee a team of four or five challenge editors and then we piece it all together."

Sundelius also works with POV camera operators (who set up GoPros throughout the course), and the drone team, who's responsible for the show's gorgeous aerial shots. "We spend a ton of time figuring out what those shots are going to be and capturing all the big aerial stuff that makes the show feel big and epic and cool."

I can't help but inquire about the pain points once again. Sundelius points to the nonstop physical toll it takes to make the show — especially when the crew must brace for back-to-back seasons. But despite long days where they're getting pounded by rain or struggling on a turbulent boat ride where you're "just getting sloshed around," he still says it's "so fun" to work on "Survivor."

"The adventure is what makes it sweet," he says. "That's the magic. Sometimes the rough moments are when it feels the best and that's what bonds the family together the closest. When you've been through some real stuff together."

For 27-year-old Kevin Martinez and 22-year-old Skylar Williams, knowing the right person stamped their passports to Fiji. Martinez formerly worked with Marchand on "Big Brother," and the producer recommended he look into joining the Dream Team. As for Williams, her uncle once produced the show, so she grew up watching and loving "Survivor."

"I'd be like, 'Oh my gosh, I want to be just like him when I grow older,'" Williams says. And soon enough, she was. Once she turned 21, her uncle put her in touch and the rest is history.

While job shadowing and career opportunities are part of the benefits of being on the Dream Team, testing out "Survivor" challenges day-in and day-out is no small feat. Even with regular eating and sleeping schedules, the physical demand is no joke.

"I did not know how out of shape I was until I got out here," Martinez recalls. "I go running a lot. I was like, 'Oh, I got this.' My first time testing a challenge, oh my God, I was out of breath. The day after, I was so sore and I still had to go back to work and do art, and test another challenge. Slowly, little by little, I started to build all that stamina to go into all these challenges."

Williams agrees, saying she was "overconfident" when she first arrived on location.

"I was like, 'Oh yeah, I'm gonna kill these challenges,' because I watched on TV and I'd be like 'I can do that,'" she says. "I came here and I literally sucked! I was so humbled. I was like, 'Wait, oh my gosh, I'm not as fit as I thought I was.' On TV, the contestants are making it look easier than — you know, you've done it!" she says, gesturing to my bloodied and bruised limbs.

But the job doesn't stop there. When the actual shoots happen, Martinez, Williams, and the rest of the team are responsible for transporting gear for every department, including cameras, large boxes, tripods, microphones and batteries, and more, just like a PA on any other set would do. "Everything you do all day is like a full-body workout," Williams adds.

At the time of our conversations (June 2025), Martinez and Williams are already looking ahead to roles they might want to transition to. Martinez is eyeing a spot as an assistant director (or a camera operator), with the goal of one day becoming a director. Williams is interested in becoming a producer, shadowing "Team Flint," a group that covers the show's journeys and night segments.

"I'm so grateful that I got to shadow camera operators and assistant directors," says Martinez, "so I'm getting a little taste of both worlds I'm trying to be in and absolutely loving it."

On the day the press runs Season 50's first immunity challenge with the Dream Team, Kirhoffer's voice booms out across a sea of journalists, camera people, crew, CBS execs, Probst, and more. "DREAM TEAM!" Team members drop what they're doing and sprint over to Kirhoffer, pulling in tight like a huddled football team awaiting the next play. It's clear how disciplined the group is, as a unit. It's also evident how much they respect Kirhoffer, a man many say has changed their lives.

Seconds later, another group emerges from the jungle. Former Dream Teamers (some holding children) and crew members from almost every corner of production stopped what they were doing to come pay tribute to their former leader. "Dude, this is for you!" Jeff Probst shouts to the visibly overwhelmed Kirhoffer, who can barely take the sight in. Those in attendance are clapping, hollering, and hugging Kirhoffer, the man who's gone above and beyond to mentor them and launch their careers. Their lives, even. Tears are shed. It's a privilege to witness and the emotion is palpable, even for us lookers-on. (Watch it all in the video above.)

"I was bawling crying before I even ran around the corner," Crapper says, "because there's this intangible thing that's so hard to put into words. But John, from the second I landed on this beach, has been like a father figure to me and has done so much. I told him, 'My kids exist because of you.' He gave me and my husband a chance and he mentored us, kept us around, pointed us in the right direction, and gave us such a strong foundation in our careers and our lives. I've learned so much from him. All of the heads of the show, John, Matt, and Jeff, have all been such a huge part of where I am and how I got here and my having a family here." 

Williams also uses the term "father figure" when describing Kirhoffer. "He's so supportive and he wants us all to do well and if we're not, he'll show us what we need to do to be able to do well here and continue with our careers, because he wants us to stay," she says. "He loves us and we love him."

Martinez adds, "We're his children. I've never had a boss like Kirhoffer. He makes the time to come out, say hi, talk to us, [ask] how we're doing. It's that genuine connection. He cares about all of us."

Sundelius agrees. "It's his legacy that he not only brings us in and gets our foot in the door, but then once we're here, he helps us grow and encourages us to find spots that we're interested in and to try different things," he says. "He just has this unwavering belief in everyone. He feels like he can lift everyone up and he does, and the proof is in the pudding. The family and the community and the incredibly talented people that he's been able to cultivate, it's just incredible. No one wants to leave. Everyone wants to stay forever."

That moment at rehearsal is not lost on Kirhoffer. He speaks just as fondly about his Dream Teamers as they do of him.

"I had no idea that was coming," he says with a smile. "Celebrating '50,' that's already emotional and an honor to hold the same job that long and be part of this show that we all love so much and are all very protective of. I thought that's why there was this buzz going on!"

But seeing his past and present mentees show up for him was a "special" moment. One that not only celebrates "Survivor 50," but honors Kirhoffer's career, which has been just as legendary in its own right.

"They're all my nieces and nephews," he says. "They're running in and I see Pedro, who was a Dream Teamer years ago, and now he's a camera guy and I'm like, 'What's Pedro doing in there?' Then there's another, Tim Barker. He's a camera guy. And then it kept coming and coming. I looked over their heads and I saw more and more Dream Teamers coming around the corner and I got super emotional. I started tearing up. I'm looking at the cameras like, 'Don't cry. Be cool.' I was just at a loss for words. It was an ocean of love that just came over me."