South Africans Lee Doig and Mike Yelseth were among the DOPs to win an Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography on the reality series Survivor Samoa.

We caught up with Lee in Nicaragua, where he's currently shooting another series of Survivor for US broadcast.

Survivor first aired on CBS in May 2 000 and was the first reality show to top the ratings in the US. Since then, many shows have copied elements of its formula, hoping for similar success. Lee has been shooting for the Mark Burnett production for around six years. Survivor Samoa saw some of the most memorable contestants from seasons past making up the cast of Heroes vs.Villains. 

Although directing commercials for Let It Rain Films has been Lee's main focus this year, he heeds the call of the wild (and the tropics) from time to time to return to shooting Survivor. 

Having had three previous Emmy nominations (and not winning), Lee didn't expect anything would happen this time around; he didn’t even tell Sam Kelly, his producer at Let it Rain, that he had been nominated again. On getting the good news, Lee says he was “stoked” and “ecstatic.”

Lee attributes a lot of his storytelling skills to his work on Survivor, where DOPs are also directors.  The crew consists of him, a sound person and camera assistant.   “When you're out there, you have to make your own decisions, following subtle story lines and creating subliminal meaning.”

He feels Survivor deserved to win, as it is unique in the reality genre, being “cinematic, not just crew running with cameras, shooting whatever happens.”   

It's no wonder he felt ready to make the transition to directing commercials. “It's a natural progression for me, but also hard because I love shooting so much.”

At the moment he loves it best when he's able to direct and shoot, like he did on the latest Pajero Sport commercial for Old Shanghai. Sam says, “Because the concept was reality-based, Lee was absolutely perfect for it.”

Sam, Lee,  an art director from the agency, a stills photographer, an actor and a crew of only three hit the road on a journey that took them all over the country.  Sam enthuses that the shoot was such a success because everybody multi-tasked.  They managed to shoot the commercial while covering a whopping 6 600km, giving the client “incredible value for money, according to Sam.” 

She and Lee have known each other for years; he had shot a commercial with her and they had filmed a documentary together for Henry Rollins early last year for The Independent Film Channel in the US. 

Talking about Lee’s first commercials shoot as a director, Sam says, “I knew he had gained loads of experience as a commercials and feature film DOP, working with a wide range of directors. I always knew he could handle the shoot visually, but what really impressed me was his ability as a performance director and the ease with which he stepped into the role.  His attention to detail is impeccable and his constant awareness of the end result blew both the client and the agency away.” 

Before Lee jetted off to start the next Survivor series, Let It Rain Films went on to produce 16 commercials for Outsurance.

The Emmy is not Lee's first award. He was nominated for a SAFTA for best cinematography for local feature Tornado the Kalahari Horse Whisperer earlier this year and won the Best Cinematography Feature Film award at The Monaco Film Festival late last year for the same film.

“Lee is chosen time and time again by the Survivor editors because he builds the story through visuals,” says Sam.  It seems that's also what makes him a strong commercials director. 

But Lee confesses that he didn't fully realise how much more responsibility directing would be.  “You have to give your attention to so much, from the big picture to the smallest detail.” 

Luckily shooting commercials gives Lee the opportunity to work with bigger budgets and of course more money means “you can make something look really good.” 

Ultimately, though, work is not just about money or pretty pictures for either Sam or Lee. Lee wants to surround himself with great people. “We really work on the principle of making the experience enjoyable for everyone, from client to crew.  We like to take some of the usual unpleasantness of set away. I believe a good energy makes for better pictures anyway.” 

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Liani Van Straaten