“FIU Survivor” started with 14 students but only 1 will remain.
On the web-based show, which started airing this past September and will finish at some still unidentified date this spring, contestants face challenges testing their teamwork, integrity, strategy and more.
They are tasked with challenges like playing hide-and-go-seek in the woods of FIU, completing a campus-wide scavenger hunt and winning capture the flag. They endure each daunting task to advance rounds in hopes of becoming FIU’s season one sole survivor.
The first season is team-based, splitting competitors evenly between teams Hurricane and Sunshine. A member of the losing team each round is voted off the show at the end of the episode. A losing contestant can protect themselves from being voted off if they find a small statue that guarantees immunity.
“I think the challenges were really well done and creative,” says Andres Contreras, a public relations junior and “FIU Survivor” contestant. “They aren’t directly copied from Survivor, which makes them unique.”
Inspired by Survivor on CBS, and similar shows at other universities, Catalina Rodriguez – a junior majoring in business analytics – started “FIU Survivor” in December 2024 to give students a chance to try a spinoff of the popular show with a $100 grand prize. The audience gets to experience the show and feel the anxious emotions of the competitors each episode.
They aim to “create the most engaging and competitive experience for players, produce a high-quality show for the audience, and determine which students have what it takes to become the true Sole Survivor of FIU,” according to their mission statement.
Rodriguez sparked the idea for the show after her experience as a contestant in a Survivor series, started by Cooper Wilk at the University of Texas in fall 2023. She had fun, which made her passionate about creating her own spin-off of the hit show in Miami.
“It was the best freshman year experience I had,” says Rodriguez. “So when I transferred, I decided to start it here too.”
She and Jessica Honeycutt, a junior majoring in elementary education, made it happen. Starting in December 2024, they learned the steps needed to build the “FIU Survivor” series and distributed flyers to promote the new organization.
The office of Registered Student Organizations (RSO) officially approved “Survivor FIU” as an organization, but didn’t give it a budget to film season one. In spring 2025, they began filming using only the co-founders’ personal funds. Dylan Teboe, a junior digital media major, helped produce, direct and edit the series.
“The reason we decided to release the episodes during the fall is to give Dylan enough time to work on them,” says Rodriguez, adding, “Dylan…knows how to edit in a way that makes everything look almost magical.”
So far this year, seven episodes of season one, titled “Hurricanes vs. Sunshine,” have been released. They have gathered over 1,400 views on the Survivor FIU YouTube channel (Rodriguez declined to give exact dates on future episode releases).
In January and February 2025, the cast competed in multiple physical and strategic challenges until there was one winner.
Capture the flag was the first episode, which was filmed near Pitbull Stadium. Each team sent a member to bring a tiny statue that they called an “idol” back to base. The losing team member was eliminated. The last team with members remaining won immunity from being voted off for that day. In the most recent episode, the remaining six members were randomly split on three teams to compete in multiple challenging races at Haulover Beach. Members of the winning team then faced off for immunity.
In coming weeks, the winner of these challenges, “FIU Survivor’s” first “sole survivor,” will be revealed after more challenges.
After creating the first season with no outside funding, FIU’s Student Government Association and RSO approved an unspecified budget for season two. Rodriguez guarantees a clear jump in quality in the new season.
“My expectations are a lot higher,” says Rodriguez. “I believe we’ll be able to prepare for this season much better than we did for season one.”
Season two, “Arts vs Smarts,” is set to be filmed during spring 2026.
The crew is still accepting applications to attend casting calls. Interested members will need to be available to meet at least two times a week for filming during the spring 2026 semester.
“I recommend going all out and stepping out of your comfort zone,” says Contreras. “That’s what helps you enjoy every competition and go far in the game.”
