Alaska is in the midst of a reality television boom that began in 2005 with the premiere of “Deadliest Catch” and was supercharged by a tax credit program meant to attract feature filmmakers. More than 20 reality shows are currently in some stage of production in the state, which has about 735,000 people — fewer than Fort Worth, Texas.
The productions tend to concentrate in rural Alaska, where less than half the population lives. Once you’re off the road system, it seems, the cameras are everywhere.
Local reaction to all the attention on Alaska is mixed. Naturally, there is money to be made. Though reality TV crews are small, the shows contract with local businesses for lodging, food and transportation. And though it can’t be directly correlated to all the Alaska-related publicity, tourism to Alaska has never been better. But the original idea behind the credit was that it would provide Alaskan jobs, and most of the TV production staff still comes from out of state. In 2013, for example, Alaskans brought home only 15 percent of the wages paid, according to the state.
And, watching many of the shows, for Alaskans, can be cringe-inducing.
It’s the backwoodsy stereotyping, the overblown talk about dangers of animals and wilderness, and the basic inaccuracies about Alaska that turn local people off, she says. A recent episode of MTV’s “Jersey Shore”-esque show “Slednecks,” about rowdy young people in Wasilla, for example, was filmed at two different times of year but edited to seem like it wasn’t. But if you live in Alaska, you aren’t fooled, she says.
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