TV's Jeff Probst Has Future in Film

By Elizabeth Darst

11/20/2001 at 10:54 AM EST

Perhaps it was wearing the safari jacket -- the classic look for a Hollywood director in the 1930s -- but somehow the boyishly handsome host of "Survivor" managed to become a respected filmmaker in his time away from reality TV. Probst, one of PEOPLE's 50 Most Beautiful People this year, wrote and directed the independent film, "Finder's Fee," a psychological thriller which stars James Earl Jones, "ER" 's Eric Palladino and Robert Forster. Reuters reports that American Cinematheque has just named Probst one of "Ten Directors to Watch" and the film organization will screen the film tonight in Hollywood as part of a showcase. The TV host was recently in his hometown to accept the Golden Space Needle award for best film and a director award at the 2001 Seattle International Film Festival. Before "Survivor" made him a household name, the multi-talented Probst produced and narrated marketing videos in Seattle and came to New York City in 1992 to be a live host on the fX channel. VH1 then tapped him as the host of "Rock & Roll Jeopardy" before he skyrocketed to reality TV fame.