New reality series films in Cayman

If you’re addicted to the reality show genre (whether openly or secretly), you will be excited to learn that a docu-style series for VH1 recently filmed on island.  

You may have spotted executive producer Sean Rankine and his 30-member crew and cast of five as they filmed at various locations across the island last week. Many scenes were also shot in a rented Cayman Kai beach villa, where the cast stayed for five days. “The cast did a lot of fun touristy things – they went to Dolphin Discovery and Rum Point, they were in Cayman Brac yesterday, and tonight Chef Hansel Rankin is making dinner for them,” Rankine said last week.  

“It’s been a great getaway for them. Before the cameras even started rolling, the cast members were a group of friends. It was a ‘Stella Got Her Groove Back’ kind of vacation – a great escape for them and an opportunity to bond as women and as friends. They got to be themselves, let their hair down, and get away from their normal lives.” 

Rankine, 41, whose family is from East End, got his start in reality television in 1999 when he was hired as a production assistant on the set of “Real World – Hawaii,” season eight. He has 15 years’ experience, including more than 60 reality shows. For the past seven years, he has been an executive producer for shows including “Kimora: Life in the Fab Lane,” “America’s Next Top Model” and “Basketball Wives.” 

Born in Washington, D.C., Rankine grew up in Freehold, New Jersey, and went to university in Arizona before moving to California. He auditioned to be a cast member of “Real World – Boston,” season six, but did not make the cut – and he has no regrets.  

“When I didn’t get cast in the show, I ended up on the other side of the camera, which has been a far better experience,” he said. “I’ve had the luck of being able to touch on all different genres throughout my career, from competition-based reality shows to docu-style series.”  

Rankine added, “I love this realm. I wouldn’t change it. It takes a lot to open up your life for the cameras and live out loud for people. It’s a fascinating dynamic as you get to live this person’s experience and take away the things they have learned as well.” 

Rankine and his producing partner, Mark Seliga, jointly own a production company named Devil Cat Media. They either shop ideas around to various television networks or get contracts from networks to produce their reality shows. Shed Media U.S. has contracted with Rankine for the series he is currently working on. Rankine’s job as executive producer is to move an idea from concept to fruition. 

“I take the idea from pre-production where you have to figure out all the moving pieces, such as who’s going to be in the show, where it’s going to be, how you’re going to shoot it, how long it’s going to take, etc., and then I execute all of that.” 

Rankine explained that some reality shows are “soft-scripted,” like the MTV series “Laguna Beach,” which was based on a group of wealthy high school teenagers in Orange County, California. “The cameras couldn’t follow the cast of teenagers around at school, so producers would track what they were doing on paper to get an idea of what happened during the day and then figure out how to unfold those stories by allowing them to play out later in the form of discussion,” he says.  

The docu-style series he is currently working on is not scripted; the crew follows the five cast members around based on what they do and then documents what unfolds from day one to the last day of the series. 

Even though Rankine has visited Cayman a number of times with his family, his interest in the island was renewed after his father’s death, as it was his father’s expressed wishes to be buried here. Cayman always had a special place in his father’s heart, which has now been passed onto his son.  

In the past four years, Rankine has returned seven times. “There is an environment here that needs to be shared with people,” he said. “Cayman doesn’t get the attention it deserves. You do get bigger budgets in places like Jamaica and Bahamas, where they invite people hand over fist in order to promote their island. The Cayman Islands Department of Tourism and the Cayman Islands Film Commission have been super helpful in terms of facilitating our needs here, and we’re looking forward to a partnership in promoting the island.” 

The yet-to-be-titled reality series is scheduled to air this summer on VH1 on Monday nights.