Who is Christopher LaVoie? Man behind ‘4 Days’ reality shows has history of run-ins with police, dubious business ventures and a secret life in the Bay Area.
A year before David LaVoie began filming what would become 4 Days in the Valley, LaVoie had already created one of the industry titans of reality television when he teamed up with former Baja California governor Manuel Lujan Bautista.
The duo produced what would eventually become Baja Extreme: Survivor and Survival, a four-part docu-series of survival challenges across the Mexican state.
“You look back at the first reality shows, how they were made and what those shows were, and they were all very successful,” said David LaVoie. “And now, they’re all dead. It’s a sad day.”
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‘4 Days’, a short-lived version of Baja Extreme, was in production in 2007 and broadcast for five episodes.
The series was a joint venture between LaVoie’s production company, LaVoie Production, and Bautista’s Tijuana-based production company, Amante Productions. Both companies have since gone out of business.
On Sept. 25, LaVoie will be the subject of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Central District of California, which, according to the Associated Press, is probing whether LaVoie violated federal laws related to money laundering, false statements and making false claims with the U.S. Department of Agriculture under the False Claims Act.
Baja Extreme, according to LaVoie, was one of the last show that he helped produce.
“I feel like Baja Extreme was kind of the last show I did with Manuel because he was in his own bubble,” said LaVoie, who’s now in his early 70s and still works as a reality producer. “I didn’t go to him and say, ‘Hey, I’m doing this show.’ I didn’t have to. He already had a