FOX Entertainment knew it was facing some production challenges when it was planning to film season two of the reality TV show “Extracted”. The premise: 12 contestants are dropped alone into the Canadian wilderness. Their loved ones then watch the action 24/7 via a live camera feed and biometric data and the only way a contestant can leave is if their family members decide they’ve had enough and press the “Extract” button.
One of the biggest challenges faced during season one of the show was delivering a live feed to family members in an area with extremely limited connectivity. For the second season, FOX was filming across four square miles of wilderness and needed to wirelessly connect 25 video sources and 20 communication devices in rugged terrain.
The crew needed to manage massive data transfers securely, and avoid the connectivity mishaps that plagued previous remote shoots. There was also the daunting task of manually logging and sorting over 100,000 hours of footage gathered during 24/7 content capture, a monumental bottleneck for post-production. As a result, FOX partnered with Verizon to remedy the situation.
The solution: A private network and AI in the wilderness
To solve the connectivity challenge, Verizon deployed a temporary, portable Private 5G Network to blanket the area with secure, high-bandwidth coverage. This private network, separate from public traffic, delivered the low-latency and high-uptime performance needed to support everything from 5G-enabled ENG cameras to wireless comms systems.
To help ease post-production work, Verizon trialed its Edge AI platform. With cameras rolling 24/7, the AI platform used computer vision to help identify which feeds had contestants in them and provided timestamps and summaries to make the editing process easier and less time consuming. Verizon also tested a live data API (Application Programming Interface) integration with cell phones and 5G video encoders that helped track the location of contestants and cameras in real-time remotely on a map. This allowed the Director to see where each contestant was in relation to the camera crew while remaining at the production base potentially miles away.
The impact: A blueprint for the future of production
This deployment transformed the production of “Extracted.” The crew was untethered and able to rely on seamless connectivity anywhere they needed it in the challenging environment. The AI platform trial demonstrated a clear path to dramatically reducing post-production timelines, freeing up creative teams to focus on storytelling instead of tedious manual logging.
This project is more than just a single success story; it’s a powerful proof of concept for the entire M&E industry. The same portable, secure, and scalable model can be deployed on studio backlots to partition traffic for visiting productions, or at large festivals and concerts to manage security, sales, and operations. The collaboration on “Extracted” is the first step in a journey to build and validate the next generation of media technology.
“Verizon came in and built the system that allowed us to send signals from anywhere in a very remote region back to HQ in real time,” said Jeff Anderson, SVP of production for FOX Entertainment. “Zero latency, exactly what we needed to have happen for this show to work.”
“The way in which we deployed private 5G as a solution was completely new and novel,” said Andrew Zarick, Head of strategy and partnerships at Verizon Innovation Labs. “What we provided is a bubble of cellular connectivity that was completely private and secure. We also deployed an Edge AI solution.”
