Passe-Muraille, Passe-Partout and Félindra, the tiger trainer, are all preparing their suitcases. Ditto for Father Fouras who, with his great age, is nevertheless one of the populations at risk! On May 18, teams from Adventure Line Productions, the company that produces "Koh-Lanta" and "Fort Boyard", reopened the famous fort off La Rochelle (Charente-Maritime). A month of preparation is necessary to be able to start filming the summer game of France 2 on Monday, June 15.
For this 31st season, Olivier Minne expects to receive in particular the visit of candidates Eric Antoine, Elodie Gossuin and Capucine Anav. But this year, everyone is faced with an unprecedented problem: how to shoot this "big barnum" without the fort turning into a center of contamination of the coronavirus. A big challenge in a 200 year old building, where more than a hundred people work.
Unique traffic directions, a doctor on site
“Our luck is that most of the fort is outside. And we know that the virus is less easily spread in the open air than indoors, that's why Parisian restaurants have only been allowed to open on the terrace. In the end, the fort makes it easier to respect barrier gestures, ”explains producer Alexia Laroche-Joubert to the Parisian, who had her filming protocol validated by the prefect of Charente-Maritime. “We have set up semicircular traffic directions, with one-way stairs. And each profession is grouped in dedicated cells to never meet, ”explains the producer, whose teams will be able to benefit from the advice of a specialist doctor and an expert in social distancing.
The employees, recruited on a voluntary basis, all received a copy of the protocol specific to this 2020 edition, which is displayed in every corner of the fort. “They take their temperature before getting into the boats. And at the slightest symptom, they stay at home. And everywhere, wearing a mask is compulsory, ”adds the producer.
The arrival by sea has also been redesigned. The boats, with a capacity of 50 people, will sail half empty. To compensate, they will multiply the round trips. In the bowels of the fort, all common areas, including the control room and the play cells, will be cleaned every two hours.
No fight in the mud…
“We couldn't imagine a summer without this game created in 1990. Our goal is to keep entertaining, taking care of everyone's health. If certain measures are seen on the air, this is not a problem, "promises Alexandra Redde-Amiel, the entertainment director of France Televisions. The most loyal viewers will therefore notice some small changes. The teams will be reduced and will have five candidates instead of six. There will no longer be a cell in which the candidates enter in pairs. No confrontation games with a character from the fort. No fight in the mud this season!
And chef Willy, the crazy cook embodied by humorist Willy Rovelli? He will no longer make food for the visitor to his cell. But the main development is that celebrities will no longer run in the corridors. To limit travel, the team will remain during the entire program in front of the entrance to the treasure room, in the center of the building. Passe-Partout - who will keep his mask - will take the candidates one by one to their cell.
Budget skyrocketed
Always leaving a meter away between him and his guests. Alexia Laroche-Joubert will take advantage of her visit to the fort this Wednesday to settle the last unknown factor: celebrities, who will remove their masks when they enter the fort, will they have to put them back on to pick up the coins, at the end emission?
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All these exceptional measures have spiked the sum of these eleven prime times. "As we promised, we will cover 50% of the additional cost of these health precautionary measures linked to the Covid", assures Takis Candilis, number 2 of France Télévisions. Despite this extension, production will not return to its costs. “France 2 has kept its promise, but the budget has skyrocketed. Opening the fort has a monstrous cost, which is only amortized because foreign countries come every year to turn in stride. However, they all canceled… regrets Alexia Laroche-Joubert. It is not profitable but it was not possible that Fort Boyard was not there: it has been a meeting point in the life of the French for thirty years. "
