Earlier this year I sat down, from a room in Bali, with Jason Moore of the Zero To Travel podcast. Jason found my work through the film about Martin and the resort he spent 13 years building, and Martin is on the show the week after me.
We talked for over an hour. Here are some of the things I shared.
From IT to film
I worked in IT for a couple of years and got incredibly bored. So I took all my savings and spent a year on a full-time TV production course in 2007. Everyone said that market was impossible to get into. I did it anyway, and hustled my way into the business.
My first job was financial news. Perfect place to learn, because nobody remembers what aired yesterday.
The dinner in Lisbon
After many years of client work, I felt I needed to contribute somehow. I just didn't know how.
Then, completely by coincidence, I had dinner at Alex's place in Lisbon. He makes vegan Italian food. Before the night was over I told him: I have to make a film about you. We'd had so much limoncello that he almost forgot I'd promised to come back two days later. But I did, and we spent the afternoon drinking wine and making pasta while I filmed.
It was in the edit that it came to me. This is how I can contribute. Films about people doing important things, who don't get the attention they deserve.
Counting down from 100
Six months later I committed to 100 films. I needed a big goal to say out loud.
Right before that, I'd heard on a podcast that you're more likely to reach a goal if you count down, because you can see the end. So the first film I released was No. 100. It turns out that is really hard to communicate, and really hard to keep track of yourself.
My main work, not my side hustle
The project is the most rewarding thing I've done in my whole career. It doesn't pay very well yet, so I still do client work. But about a year ago I flipped it in my head: the client work is my side hustle, and this is my main work. A bit like a tech founder who consults on the side until the investors come in. Except I'm doing documentaries.
Practically nothing changed. Energetically, everything did.
Emotional beings that think
We like to think we are thinking beings that can feel. I think we are emotional beings that can think. Reach someone's emotions, and they open up to the message. It doesn't matter if it's a Hollywood movie or a 20-second TikTok.
That's why the interviews matter so much. I try to undramatize the setup, talk about anything until people relax, and hit record when they're not noticing. During the interview I don't look at my phone or my papers. I try to beam energy from my eyes into theirs. Afterwards I'm usually completely spent.
Sometimes it takes something unexpected. Martin was so nervous before his interview that he got sick the day before. The next morning he was so worn out that all his defenses were gone, and he shared everything from his heart. That's the most watched film on the channel.
Integrity over clicks
I know a thumbnail with an elephant dancing on a ball would get more clicks. I don't want to do that. The channel isn't about me either. I'm the guide, not the subject. That makes YouTube harder, since every film has a new topic, but I'd rather play the long game.
Dancing roads in Uganda
Jason asked about the trip to Uganda to film Every Bean Has a Home with Lykke Coffee Farms. Some highlights:
- Our drone was confiscated at the airport and stayed there all week. Deo, our local filmmaker, managed to rent one for us.
- Eight hours on what Ugandans call the dancing roads, because you bounce in your seat the whole way.
- Our B camera died mid-shoot with a fried sensor. Adapt and overcome.
- The best moment: squatting on the ground with 20 kids leaning over me to see the drone footage on the controller. That's why I do this.
Traveling with one suitcase each forces you to work with what you have. That limitation is a kind of creative freedom. You solve things in ways you never would at home.
The bigger idea
Not everyone can dedicate their life to a cause. But everyone can do something. If you're a hairdresser, give someone a free haircut. Hold the door. Look up from your phone on the subway and smile at a stranger. If enough of us do that, we can turn this upside-down world around. That's the inspiration I want the films to give.
We finished with Swedish fika, which is coffee and something sweet, actually talking to each other, never at your screen. At some workplaces it's religion. Don't mess with fika.
Listen to the whole conversation here:
And if you know an underdog somewhere in the world who has found their own special way of contributing, send me a tip.