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Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:11 am

Just found this on the website of the Daily Express (UK Newspaper)

Quote:

Elsewhere a new reality show with a £100,000 prize and boozed-up contestants is due to be launched on terrestrial television next year.

Called Dream Island, it is a reworking of ITV1’s flop Love Island, which cost the network £20million.

A casting note says: “The show’s contestants will not be subjected to eating grubs or humiliated in exposing their shortcomings in public but rather they will be exposed to the rich and lavish lifestyle.

“Just think: you could be lazing by the ocean being supplied with sumptuous food and sipping exotic cocktails.”

Full article is here.

So if it is a scam, they're fooling the media as well.

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:29 am

The key line:

Quote:

Dream Island and My Little Soldier are pitching for a broadcaster.

So you can be one of thousands (they are hoping for many thousand, I am sure--and I imagine total cast will be well under 100, unless everyone gets a 5 second spot) to pay your $30 for a chance to get on a show that might or might not get on the air.

If it were me, I would just buy a lottery ticket--it's cheaper, the payout is higher, and the odds of it changing my life forever are probably only a little worse Smile

Elite Baiter Joined: 01 May 2006 Posts: 1693

When i first saw this advert in the evening standard (london paper) offering the best job in the world i was a bit skeptical http://www.islandreefjob.com
It seemed my skepticism was unfounded and they was a fantastic oppotunity

Quote:

Mr Southall, of Hampshire, beat more than 34,000 applicants from 200 countries for the dream role

May be the inspiration behind Dream Island TV Productions
34,000 X commitment fee of £29.75 = A lot of money

Also the registrant neil@torfx also registered this oppotunity
http://www.milliondollardealer.com/index.php

At this sister site http://www.millionpoundtrader.com/

Quote:

Due to the overwhelming response, the free trial highlighted some operational limitations and we have decided to delay the live contest until these issues have been resolved. Our new launch date is July 2009.

Googling "Removals Abroad LTD" runs quite few diverse sites
http://www.conservatoryquoteline.com/content/contact-us.php
http://www.compare4broadband.com/
http://europeanoakbeams.com/

The proof will be in the pudding if this programme is actually made or a diffrent sort of long firm fraud!! thats if it is fraud if they dont repay the "commitment fees"?????

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:15 pm

music man wrote:

@R2D2 Your questions make a lot of sense. Lets see what they come back with!

nothing so far.
if this site is kosher, he'll have a chance to demonstrate it.
but if it isn't, publicity is our only weapon.
because there seems to be no clear evidence of fraud,
so we cannot close it down in the same way that we close thousands of obvious fraud sites.

so i contacted the daily express reporter instead, to ask if he is interested in a bit of investigative journalism. Mr. Green

update: the reporter's autoresponder says "I am out of the office until tues 16 June"

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 9

OK, so i got a reply today following my questions as to why they want ths fee. I think they may have had a few of these questions and are sendign out a generic email as it does not answer my other question of whom has bough this show (Also a new email address!)

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From: Paul Trevail <[email protected]>
To: <xxxxxxxx>
Subject: Dream Island TV -, Re registeration fee.
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Hi xxxxx,

Thanks for the email, Sorry about the delay in getting back to you Dan is on holiday in Italy (lucky Dan!).

Please be assured we have invested tens of thousands of pounds into the Dream Island experience already and are comitted to completing the process. The only way for us to recoup our investment is to produce and market a highly successful T.V programme. Therefore we are highly motivated and committed to the show. Regrettably we do get some applicants who arer not committed to the audition process and by asking for a small consideration we are attracting committed applicants rather than people who are just killing time. Sadly these people get in the way of geniune people and the danger is that a committed applicant may be overlooked.

I understand why we are getting some questions raised, because ours is a totally new approach to the audition process as is the format of the show. Instead of treating people rather shamefully and imposing a draconian regime on the contestants we will treat the lucky contestants like royalty. The twist in the programme is to see how long individuals will tire of the luxurious life style and crave beans on toast for instance, and it will be interesting to see the changes in character and behaviour the people go through.

We are in the 21st century and technology is available so people do not have to travel hundreds of miles to a central location to take part in the audition process this saves both time and money.

We are launching our roadshow in July and will be in various parts of the country from Torquay through to Edinburgh, locations will be on the website so look out for a town near you and come and see us.

I hope that this has helped answer some of your worries and look forward to seeing you either online or in person at the roadshow.

Kind Regards

Richard Cook
DITV Production

Posted: Thu Jun 18, 2009 7:50 pm

i don't think they have addressed the concern, which is whether it is ethical or legal to take money from applicants.
i can understand that they are looking for commitment, but that does not make their approach ethical or legal.
there are plenty of accepted models for putting programme concepts in front of commissioning editors,
and signing up applicants before being commissioned is putting the cart before the horse.

many uk tv companies have been in trouble lately because of lax or greedy procedures for collecting money from the public.
i am wondering how the regulator [OFFBUTTON] would regard this scheme?

no reply from the daily express reporter Sad

Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2009 1:26 am

Ok, the cynic in me can't help but look more closely at that total BS response.

Quote:

Please be assured we have invested tens of thousands of pounds into the Dream Island experience already and are comitted to completing the process. The only way for us to recoup our investment is to produce and market a highly successful T.V programme.

Well, not quite true. "Tens of thousands" suggests an investment of less than 100K Dangle fame and fortune in front of tens or hundreds of thousands of people who are dying for that one big break, and you probably can get a few thousand to fork out the 30K for the dream. Get 3500 to sign up, you have already made your investment back, whether or not you ever put a show on the air. Chances are they will get a lot more than 3500, and those additional fees are pure profit.

Quote:

Regrettably we do get some applicants who are not committed to the audition process and by asking for a small consideration we are attracting committed applicants rather than people who are just killing time.

Oh, come on already. Is any reality show with a big payout complaining that huge numbers of contestants are not serious or are dropping out at the last minute? No. I'm sure it happens every once in a while--after all, life happens. But if you are willing to get up on stage and make a fool of yourself in auditions, are you really going to change your mind when they invite you to join the show? Of course not. If a potential contestant does change his or her mind, I can guarantee there are dozens more waiting in the wings for that chance. And ironically, since the premise is that the person is not used to a life of luxury, wouldn't the better contestant be the one who doesn't have the money laying around for the entrance fee??

Quote:

because ours is a totally new approach to the audition process as is the format of the show. Instead of treating people rather shamefully and imposing a draconian regime on the contestants we will treat the lucky contestants like royalty. The twist in the programme is to see how long individuals will tire of the luxurious life style and crave beans on toast for instance, and it will be interesting to see the changes in character and behaviour the people go through.

I doubt they are giving out diamond rings in their auditions. If their audition was a day at the spa, you can bet they would be advertising that. This show, like any reality show, would expect something of the contestants. They would have rules and basic requirements. The contestants, like any other reality show contestants, want to be on the show because they hope or expect to get something out of it. And the truth is, there is nothing "totally new" about this. Take someone away from their "normal" lifestyle, immerse them in a different life, and put a camera on them. How is this any different from Survivor, Big Brother, Real Life, or Wife Swap (ok, the truth is I have never actually watched more than 5 minutes of any of these shows but I know the premise)?

Actually, I give them credit for being pretty creative. Collect the audition fees while trying to get someone to pick up the show. If they do get the show picked up, they get the profits from the show. If not, as long as they have the appropriate disclaimers, they can still make a tidy profit from the audition fees. Ethical? Not in my opinion. Legal? most likely.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 09 Jun 2009 Posts: 9

Interesting turn of events! I guess they were legit after all...

Dear applicant

Please see (below) the press release detailing the recent withdrawal of the registration fee for Dream Island TV.

Dream Island TV have today withdrawn the £29.75 commitment fee which was being charged to applicants who successfully passed the first phase of selection for their exciting new reality TV show based on a Caribbean island.
The nominal fee was originally introduced to deter applicants who were not totally committed to the concept and would potentially spoil it for those genuinely seeking to be part of the show.
“It has become apparent that the fee has been deterring just the people we are looking for due to reservations that it could be some form of scam” said Mr Joe Eaglestone of Dream Island TV. “This was never our intention as we are a genuine company attempting to bring innovation to this genre of programming. Because of this we have decided to withdraw the fee today and repay any fees already paid”.
It is hoped that this decision will once more encourage the many applicants to date to continue with their application to take part in this once in a lifetime luxury experience.

Please be advised that this in no way alters your own eligibility to continue with the application process to become a contestant on the show. If you have received the questionnaire, do continue and complete that; you can however ignore any reference to the administration fee in any correspondence you have received.

On behalf of Dream Island TV, we wish you all the best luck in your application.

Dream Island TV Productions

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2009 6:56 pm

Quote:

I guess they were legit after all...

i would probably rephrase that as 'they realised their previous policy was unethical and possibly illegal'

with 1,160 google-hits for "dream island" & "scam" i think they had little choice.

i'm not sure if it was mentioned already in this thread, but their T&C's included the clause:

Quote:

5. Even if I am selected the producers have no obligation to produce a programme and even if the programme is produced there is no obligation on the producers or broadcaster to broadcast such a programme.

i have still had no reply from the newspaper reporter that i contacted,
so i don't know if he followed up my suggestion that the situation warranted investigation by someone who knows the industry.

overall, i think we can pat ourselves on the back for our contribution to this u-turn

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