A reality show with a social conscience, Chance of a Lifetime brings cultures together

The new TV programme Chance of a Lifetime eschews the usual reality series norms to address some of the world's burning social issues.

Ashok Amritraj is the host and executive producer of the reality show Chance of a Lifetime. Mona Al Marzooqi/ The National

A television reality show launching tonight aims to breathe new life into some of the world's most pressing issues, and it has enlisted help from some seriously big hitters to achieve its goal. Chance of a Lifetime counts the United Nations, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Variety magazine and Hyde Park-Image Nation among its partners (Image Nation is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media, which also owns The National).

The show’s presenter and executive producer Ashok Amritraj explains how it all started: “I know the UN assistant secretary general Bob Orr, and about three years ago he asked me to come up with an idea that blends entertainment with the UN’s social causes.

"I came up with Chance of a Lifetime and they loved it, so I approached Image Nation and we all started working together and brought Variety and UCLA on board, too. We started shooting in April last year."

The show doesn’t just highlight some of the UN’s burning issues, such as water preservation and child mortality, it also offers fascinating insight into how different cultures interact and the collaborative process of filmmaking.

Four young filmmakers each from Singapore, the UAE and India – 12 total – were split into four teams, with one of each nationality on each team.

“Over the course of seven half-hour shows, the teams have to first pitch an idea for a film, then make one-minute, five-minute and 10-minute films on the issues presented,” says Amritraj. “After each film, a team is eliminated until only one remains, and the winner then flew to New York to screen their winning film at the UN, and also to the Cannes Film Festival.”

The teams had full access to the UN’s archive footage for their projects, including public service announcements from stars such as George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, while the UCLA team were also on hand to help explain matters if things got a little complex.

The biggest challenge, says Amritraj, was avoiding making depressing “issue films” while remaining within the UN’s social conscience, or quite simply, “how do I make this entertaining?”

“Everyone has seen these sort of information and public service films and sadly, after a while they start to fall on deaf ears,” says Amritraj. “I thought, is there a way to take these subjects and put them in a reality-show format so you kind of follow the subjects incidentally because you’re following the people?

“The message ceases to be the focal point and it becomes sort of an embedded message that you hope comes across.”

Just as fascinating as the messages or the films themselves was watching how the team members from vastly different cultures related to each other. “The first week or so was a real surprise for them. They hadn’t expected to be split up with different nationalities and they were mostly used to working alone, so there was a period of acclimatisation.

“It was really interesting to watch the different cultures interact. I had wondered how they’d get on, especially things like Emirati girls being teamed with foreign males they’d never met, but you’ll see in the show – they were terrific,” he says.

“I was genuinely surprised. It’s incredible to watch the developing dynamic of the groups as these cultures come together. Part of the project was making movies, but another part was also bringing cultures together. Could they get along, communicate, could they even understand each other? The team that was eliminated first was probably the one that got along and communicated the worst. They just struggled to get their thoughts in order.”

The show ends up being simultaneously educational, entertaining and a fascinating lesson for competitors and audience in the value of collaboration between individuals and cultures – vital both for those seeking to enter the cooperative world of filmmaking and for those seeking to address some of the world’s most pressing problems.

• Chance of a Lifetime premieres on March 25 at 9pm on National Geographic Abu Dhabi