Can you explain your filming setup to readers and how it differs from other reality/game show crews?
After completing three seasons, our camera setup is now the easiest ever. The first season we shot on iPhone, GoPro, and Blackmagic Pocket Cinema was terrible all over the country, especially in Las Vegas in the 110-degree heat. We even brought a mini drone that never showed up. We learned that we need to simplify production so that production does not get in the way of content. So we reduced to iPhone 13 Pros, Rode lav mics and some 360 cameras. We are always on the move, so we need cameras that are super reliable, easy to use, charge and transfer data. Now, we’re at the full iPhone 13 Pro offering. They’re easy to find, so if we break a device halfway through, the ability to drop it in within an hour or two is huge.
What’s changed in the second season?
In Season 2, the game format is completely different, and it’s a completely different location. Basically, it’s a race around the world. We start in Denver, and the first team to return to Denver after crossing each meridian and covering a distance greater than the Tropic of Cancer (about 22,500 miles) wins. There are records of flying around the world on commercial flights; it’s something people do on a regular basis. Usually the person who does it gets a little help, or it’s high-profile enough that the airline will try to make it happen.
We don’t want to do that. We wanted to do the real version and had to deal with boarding lines and security lines – what actually excites us now is the extra complexity that Covid has introduced, like having to think about border openings, Covid tests, entry forms, huge security lines and understaffed airports.
How did you stay safe while filming a state-hopping game show during a global pandemic, especially given the varying levels of security and Covid management across states?
This format depends in part on how well it works in the context of Covid because it was developed during Covid. In many of the other productions we do, we have to do months of prep work arranging interviews, field trips, and field trips. We have to start lock down dates months in advance, which is really hard when you never know when the next Covid wave will come. Here, all we do in advance is design the game, we don’t spend any production money. We could have decided two hours ago that we didn’t do it now because the Covid rate was too high, or because this guy on the cast tested positive, and it wouldn’t cost a fortune. We only shoot when vaccination rates are relatively low and in the post-vaccine era, and then we get into the normal safety precautions of vaccines, pre-departure and on-arrival testing, and mask wearing.
Can you tell me more about how you offset the carbon emissions of your flight Funding replacement of Myanmar stoves? After posting the video, what are your main thoughts on carbon offsets? jet lag‘s broadcast title is “Carbon Offset Issues.”
