Reality TV guru to helm "North Shore" series

Mark Burnett, the man behind CBS’ smash hit “Surviror,” this week signed on to produce a reality television series focusing on surfers and surfer culture in Hawai`i. “Boarding House: North Shore,” announced in December, is scheduled to begin its six-week summer run on Wednesday, June 18 on The WB. Burnett will be tasked with molding the footage shot on the North Shore of O`ahu last year into “outstanding television.”

“Boarding House: North Shore” follows seven top professional surfers who lived and surfed together during the recent Vans Triple Crown of Surfing competition.

The cast includes three-time Triple Crown champ Sunny Garcia, reigning Triple Crown winner Myles Padaca, 5th-ranked woman surfer Chelsea Georgeson, 14th-ranked male surfer Damien Hobgood, big-wave surfer Danny Fuller, model and surfer Veronica Kay, and Teen Choice Award winner Holly Beck.

“The material is there for an exciting and compelling show,” said Keith Cox, the network’s senior vice president of alternative programming. “I am sure that Mark, with his unparalleled storytelling expertise, will craft this into outstanding
television.”

“Having Mark work on ‘Boarding House: North Shore’ fits into our strategy of working with the best the reality genre has to offer,” Cox added.

Burnett is also the executive producer on a scripted comedy pilot for The WB, a romp through Europe called “Are We There Yet?”

The network notes that the show will be backed by both traditional advertising, as well as product placement — a strategy Burnett and company honed in “Survivor.” Among the sponsors viewers can expect to see on the walls of the surfers’ house and elsewhere in the series are M&M’s candies, 1-800-CALL-ATT, Honda and Mountain Dew.