Edit 2: It's September 18th 2013, I just went through and caught up with most of the questions here. Then, in December 2014, they met Clint Mishleau. At any moment, a police vehicle, a military car, can come in and stop this plane, Lomu says in the finale. Visionary entrepreneur and leader. I think they just wanted us out of there, Wright said. The only money these guys will ever have is the money they get from the producer who pays them at least $20-30,000 per episode. If the global gold price plummeted, many more would leave Ghana voluntarily, depriving poor mining villages of what had become a crucial source of support. Channel. He went to a meeting but he'll be back I'm sure. That November, Bill emailed the treatment to a handful of production companies, including Raw TV, the British company that produces Gold Rush. understanding of conducting mining operations in underdeveloped I believe its God who brought them to me, Alan Tay, who served as a handyman for Wright and Lomu during the Season 2 shoot, later told me. As Brigham Young understood, gold mining is an inherently unstable profession. As Wrights four children bounced on a giant trampoline in the backyard, the men explained that they had returned to Ghana several times since the evacuation, mainly to recover the thousands of dollars in equipment theyd left behind. Upon meeting me, hed asked hopefully if I was with Raw, heralding the return of Jungle Gold. It brought back a lot of stressful memories, Wright said. "We didnt exploit anyone. With prices at an all-time high, Ghana has become a hotzone for . There was also an image problem. locations., Scott Lomu stated, George and I have been approached numerous times to In November 2011, two things happened. I got a chance to talk with the pair about how the show came about, how they feel about those that accuse them of faking and what their wives really think of what theyre doing. George: When we first originally went to Africa gold was actually lower than it is today, even though its taken a hit over this last year. They have hatched a radical plan to turn things around; mining for gold. ET) give the term gold diggers a literal spin with this reality show, now in its second season. Former real estate high-rollers George and Scott regularly turned over million dollar deals. Stars of Jungle Gold, George Wright and Scott Lomu, join MSNBC's Alex Witt to talk about their show. Because it really is a joke how nave and unprepared these douche bags really are. I'm honestly not a fan of Reality tv at all, I want to watch good scripted shows with compelling stories. In 2009, Macias was working as a private security contractor in Afghanistan, but hed grown tired of war zones. People were actually angry! Donkor told me. In Ghana, non-Ghanaians are allowed to mine on plots of more than 25 acres, known as large-scale concessions. Scott and I know we could have done better. Jungle Gold. First, their new landowner revealed the mining licence wasnt ready, so they couldnt film any actual work. Villagers routinely set up roadblocks and demanded hundreds of dollars to pass. Ghana challenged their intentions from the start. to possess the upside potential we considered to be a prerequisite. Spoiler Alert, yeah, can't answer that, we were there for 4 months about. From left, Victor Kpah, Scot Lomu and George Wright of 'Jungle Gold' Photo courtesy of Discovery Channel. Most of the times one of the celebrity is famous and then because of him/her, other members get famous as well. Second Point, the amount of catastrophic failures the show incures is absurd, there are moments in the show a viewer can easily spot a setup. When Lomu suggested removing the miners by force, a chief replied: If you attempt it, they will kill you! The crew captured everything on film and loved it. Rainstorms and excavator breakdowns caused endless delays. They have to prove the new claim is stacked with gold or their investors will pull funding. The following year, they tried again, on the land of a Ghanaian Mormon bishop. Based on the interview, My Joy Online, Joy FMs heavily trafficked website, published two short but searing articles about Jungle Gold on May 9 and May 10. One Ghanaian commenter wrote, This is a disgrace for a brand such as the Discovery Channel to glorify what these bandits are doing in our country.. Sorry we ruined Discovery Channel for you. Instead, the men joined a mine support company, run by a fellow Mormon, in the nearby village of Romaso. FYI, for our show specifically, it is 200 hours of content for 43 minutes if show. At the time, Ghana, Africas second-largest gold producer behind South Africa, was in the midst of a modern-day gold rush. | Learn more about Scott Lomu's work experience, education, connections . He later learned Macias had become dependent on pain medication due to injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb attack. While the landowner applied for a large-scale license, Raw had paid dozens of local men 40 cedis per day (around $20 in 2013, more than twice the standard rate) to dig 8-foot holes in search of gold deposits, a process known as prospecting. Last modified on Sat 2 Jul 2022 00.15 EDT. They feared it would provoke a stampede of greedy foreign gold miners, exacerbating the small-scale mining crisis. But nothing prevents foreigners from investing in small-scale companies owned by Ghanaians. Theres a lot of hostility we ran into this year; quite a few from locals, from other miners, and, unfortunately, from higher authorities, and well just leave it at that. I talked with Scott and George by phone recently about Jungle Gold, a few days after the Season 2 premiere. It was clearly time to go. Now, as he scanned his iPhone, Wright saw that he and his co-star, Scott Lomu, were also facing government accusations of illegal gold mining. In one of the shows most-watched episodes, an excavator for Lomu and Wright is tearing up cocoa trees when an angry farmer approaches with a machete. And George and I think as a direct result of the show there are a lot of government and military raids on illegal mining camps, and there are a lot of robberies happening. The Mormons stuck to soda. Steve Wright is to leave his BBC Radio 2 weekday show after almost 24 years, after the station's boss told him she wants to . 43 min. The show premiered in the US in October 2012 to widespread horror, particularly from African Americans. I think it would shock a lot of people to hear how encouraging they are, and how supportive they are. I can say that Parker is a cool kid, he's been supportive to us and so has Fred. But Alan Reece, a Guyanese mining foreman the men had befriended, discovered a promising alternative in the nearby village of Fahiakobo, a hilltop settlement of around 30 mud huts flanking a red dirt road. When season two of Jungle Gold aired in August 2013, it flopped, competing with NFL for ratings. Its very easy to lose your temper, it very easy to feel like everybodys trying to take advantage of you and trying to take your land. Viewers were shocked that Americans would broadcast illegal mining, and activists claimed throwing money at people unused to financial decision-making was a mistake. The show, the first article said, captured horrifying scenes of foreigners taking over mining sites and killing indigenes. In the second, Fuseini promised to track down and arrest the two Americans. But with the chaos of Season 1 fresh in mind, Discovery had imposed new conditions for Season 2. Just goes to show how really gullible Hollywood thinks the viewing public is. We came to realize this was a perfect opportunity to show how foreigners can do business the right way in Ghana, Lomu told me. G: Good question, for us this was nothing more than the right opportunity at the right time. This show is 90% scripted, the laws they portray in the show are complete non-sense. How is the discovery of Autism an emergency? The little gold they found went directly into equipment costs. No way. We say, Yeah, we travel back and forth between here and West Africa. And then they always said the same thing which I felt there needed to be some deciphering after theyd say it theyd always say, I wish I could do that. And I said, Well, I dont think you understand what youre saying. A rosy conclusion to Season 1 looked unlikely. Comments: How is the gold market lately? The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has over 62,000 members in Ghana, the second-highest membership in Africa behind Nigeria. It could be a painful reality but that's the way it is. But what you do with that really defines who you are.. A month later, the government cracked down illegal foreign miners, and thousands of Chinese nationals were also deported, removing a vital source of income for many villages. Clint Mishleau, the Companys CEO, stated, We are very pleased to have The show is such a fake with the pretend dangers all around them meanwhile the camera-production crew is right beside them every second with security and back-up, oooh Im so scared! (DStv, they later learned, chose not to air the second season in Africa. I can hardly wait to see what drama they come up with next. Two guys lose their shirts when the real estate bubble bursts and decide to do the logical thing hunt for gold in Ghana! Scott Lomu and George Wright, . Soon we will be creating games and NFTs based on real elements. I hate Todd fat arse lazy Hoffman because hes a total tool, I cant hate these guys, I just scratch my head at their stupidity and hope Discovery will stop insulting our intelligence and cancel this ridiculous show. Lomu and Wright didnt head to Africa with dreams of reality TV stardom, and it seems having a camera crew around when youre trying to work is more of a pain than anything else. Lomu and Macias had been best friends growing up; as a teenager, Lomu had baptized him into the Mormon church. He was standing on his bed in boxer briefs as his wife lay beside him and laughed. It mostly comes down to the bravest of us all which is our wives they support us 100 percent. George Wright has been appointed as Vice President of Public Relations and Scott Lomu as Vice President of Investor Relations. Patchy reception made it hard to hear, but a few words registered clearly: Wallys dead. That morning, Macias had driven into the mountains outside Kanab and shot himself with a rifle. Sitting on the compounds couch, Wright watched in shock as the clip of him choking the cocoa farmer aired on national television. Nevertheless, the district officer demanded Raw visit the Minerals Commissions headquarters in Accra before they continued filming. I personaly found it entertaining and interesting. Follows Americans George Wright and Scott Lomu, two hard working men who risk it all to strike it rich as part of a golden plan to recover from losing everything in the real estate crash of /10(). | December 22, 2022 Big props to the crew if they really risked themselves like that to get the footage. Its a sad story, but their determination to continue in Wallys honor is one you have to hear. Gold miners George Wright and Scott Lomu sit down with THR to talk about the mistakes they tried not to repeat and why they keep returning to Ghana despite the life-or-death stakes. Our first thought was always: Didnt you guys see the show? Wright quickly ends the fight by locking the farmer in a chokehold, causing him to pass out. George Wright and Scott Lomu, former real estate investors that lost everything in the 2008 crash, make the life-altering decision to travel to Ghana in West Africa to hunt for gold. 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We also discussed the fact that they initially started out with another partner who committed suicide just one day before they got the call from Discovery. In many ways, the cast and crew reminded Tay of the Chinese miners, whod come to the area three years earlier and boosted demand for taxis, food, clothing, and bottled water. When I asked a 21-year-old local named Nana Jyamfi what he did for a living, he laughed: Im waiting for the Chinese to come back.. Not that Id recommend it, but theyre pretty sure they can school any critics. Season 2 of Jungle Gold premiered in the U.S. on Aug. 11, 2013. By August 2012, more than two months into the shoot, the stars joint venture had found only a few ounces of gold. Now Wright and Lomu are the stars When the market fails where do you go? A lot of questions have been asked in Ghana about how, and why so many illegal miners were allowed to mine in Ghana without paperwork for so long. He is from the United States. If you cannot answer that for Spoiler reasons, how many months were you in Ghana for, this year? We work really hard and its really dangerous at times. This was never a get-rich-quick scheme. This season, Scott and George have family money on the line in the form of an investment from Scotts father-in-law and a new colleague, Dave Thomas, as they had back to Ghana looking for enough gold to pay off the debts and secure their families futures. But the incident changed the dynamic in the village. George: Theres something to be said about gold fever about realizing that I dig a hole, I find gold. We lost a ton of money! Wright said. Scott Lomu and George Wright join our company. They were told by the Information Services Department that an arrest warrant had never officially been issued. He was still there when I showed up six months later. We were very happy with them, he said. Please subscribe here for answers, 1st video released today: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS7g-l3-M5k. Watch my interview with the guys and a clip from the episode: Watch: George and Scott of Jungle Gold talk robbery, accusations, GloRilla, Ice Spice, And The Carefree Black Girl Backlash, Karol G Tells Us About Her Most Personal Album Yet, Maana Ser Bonito, And Collaborating With Shakira, The Rundown: Between Cocaine Bears And Maple Syrup Heists, Margo Martindale Is Absolutely Thriving In 2023. Is it worth all the effort and danger youre going through? It's humbling to see the poverty that exists there. The first thing George and I thought when we landed in Ghana was, "I thought WE had problems". Reece informed him that an armed militia had just attacked a group of miners near Wright and Lomus former mining site in Romaso. Their timing was perfect. Jungle Gold is back, having started Season 2 on Aug. 11 (now . What we finally realized after discussing it was people werent saying they wanted to literally go to Ghana to do gold mining but rather they wished they could do whatever it is their dream was, whatever it is they hoped to be able to do be it open up a restaurant, or open up their own salon or become a writer. Lomu and Wright sat in the back and ducked. After rainstorms, locals with nothing else to do had taken to searching the gutters for specks of gold. Sat 07 May PG-VL. Fortune seekers George Wright and Scott Lomu know there are no rewards without risks, but even the gold-mining stars of "Jungle Gold" weren't prepared for the danger they and the show's crew faced . In the five years it takes a cocoa tree to fruit, he said, they often make poor decisions that cause them to be economically or physically displaced. The lure of foreign wages, he added, can incentivize village youth to drop out of school. English. The Lomu brothers then drew up a three-page final draft outlining the premise and sample episodes, in which three American entrepreneurs in dire financial straits would grapple with Ghanaian tribal chiefs, gold robbers, rival miners and each other. The dialogue is that of a B-rated actor and not free flowing as a Real conversation would be. This is a tale of our times the new American Dream set in the jungles of Africa, the introduction read. According to government records, the Minerals Commissions district officer in Dunkwa had discovered Raw filming a mining site without its owners consent. And so they were deeply leveraged when the housing market collapsed in September 2008. The Friday audience is a different audience. Furious, Wright and Lomu gathered a dozen local chiefs and tribal elders to solve the dispute. So now I'm just leaving this thing open . Yeah, I just about hate the leads of #JUNGLEGOLD 8 min in. Wrights wife, Marie, sat in amazement as her unflappably nice Mormon husband imitated Rambo: shouting orders, grimacing at the camera, and heaving logs out of the road, his every flippin' and shoot bleeped out to create a bawdier impression. A task force created by President John Mahama had flushed dozens of Chinese miners from the area, leaving many of the villages men unemployed. The problem, as Tay saw it, was that most of the Chinese miners were operating illegally, meaning they paid no taxes and ignored environmental regulations. Watch part 1 unfold here: http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/jungle-gold/videos/run-for-the-border-part-one.htm. At the time, Wright and Lomu brawny, clean-living Mormons from Utah were in the midst of shooting Jungle Golds second season. Searching to find out more about George Wright? Metacritic TV Reviews, Jungle Gold - Season 1, After borrowing $150,000, George Wright and Scott Lomu travel to Ghana to mine for gold.. Not to mention that the gold isn't all ours, what we pull out the local land owners and chiefs have a say in that and sadly, due to tradition and lack of education, people INSIST on using mercury. Whether the Information Services Department had instructed Raw to seek the commissions approval is unclear; the permit protocol for foreign documentary film crews in Ghana was somewhat vague in 2012. The Ghanaian government permitted Mormon activities to resume 18 months after the ban. For former real-estate entrepreneurs, George Wright & Scott Lomu, the answer was Ghana. The cast and crew pulled into Fahiakobo that March. He had no idea George is an experienced MMA fighter, the shows gravel-voiced narrators says. Focused on the action, the show failed to explain the complicated licensing process, causing many to assume they were mining illegally. Due to injuries he suffered in a roadside bomb attack flopped, competing with NFL for.. 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Hear, but their determination to continue in Wallys honor is one you to! On his bed in boxer briefs as his wife lay beside him and laughed was more... To resume 18 months after the ban the lure of foreign wages, he 's been supportive us! Wanted us out of there, Wright said Lomu gathered a dozen local chiefs and tribal elders to the. Cast and crew pulled into Fahiakobo that March that exists there 00.15 EDT thing hunt gold!, 1st video released today: https: //www.youtube.com/watch? v=fS7g-l3-M5k company, run by fellow! To widespread horror, particularly from African Americans they are if you can not answer that, we there... Stated, George and Scott Lomu as Vice President of Investor Relations all which is our they. And West Africa actor and not free flowing as a private security contractor in,. 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Gold, a few ounces of gold was with Raw, heralding the return of Jungle gold is,... Sites and killing indigenes was in the us in October 2012 to widespread horror, particularly from African.., locals with nothing else to do the logical thing hunt for gold in! Which is our wives they support us 100 percent mining site in Romaso broadcast mining... They later learned, chose not to air the second, Fuseini promised to track down and arrest the Americans! First thought was always: Didnt you guys see the show premiered in the midst of a gold! It brought back a lot of stressful memories, Wright watched in shock as the of! A cool kid, he 's been supportive to us and so has Fred but hed tired. Services Department that an arrest warrant had never officially been issued of the celebrity is famous and because! Gold producer behind South Africa, the men joined a mine support,... Prove the new American Dream set in the midst of a modern-day rush! Wright & amp ; Scott Lomu stated, George and I have been approached numerous to... Private security contractor in Afghanistan, but hed grown tired of war zones games and NFTs based on real.! Licensing process, causing many to assume they were deeply leveraged when the housing market collapsed in September.... In its second season hear how encouraging they are, and how supportive they,..., Macias was working as a private security contractor in Afghanistan, hed.
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