Creating a Travel Series for Capital One
Revelator was super excited to partner with the creators of Masters of Scale and Capital One to create this new travel series. The series is both a podcast and a streaming video and focuses on hidden gems and experiences in iconic travel destinations with Host Janet Hsieh. Masters of Scale brought the Revelator Team on board as a full creative studio, to research, write, and film six episodes in three key cities in the United States for their first season.
Revelator Director Jonn Herschend and Producer Samantha Johnson led a team of researchers and writers to help identify hidden gems in Atlanta, New York City and Los Angeles. They then assembled a key travel crew with a minimal footprint and arranged logistics for travel to the key cities over several weeks last fall. Samantha Johnson explains the concept like this: “Masters of Scale wanted us to find overlooked locations where a business traveler might want to adventure for an hour or two between meetings in key cities.”
Working with former Believer Magazine editor, Jordan Bass, as their lead writer, Samantha and Jonn scoured each city for interesting stories. “All three cities offered unique challenges,” explains director Jonn Herschend. “Everyone knows about great places in these cities, but we wanted these to be amazing experiences that were hidden in plain sight, the sort of place where you say ‘I can’t believe I’ve never heard of this; ‘how long has this been here?!’”
In New York, they discovered the Midnight Moment. in Times Square, a video art experience that has been taking place for the past 12 years every night of the year at midnight. All the massive video screens in Times Square are briefly turned over to an artist for three minutes each month. “It was literally the world’s most massive, free art installation hidden in the most obvious place in the entire world,” explains Sam Johnson.
In Los Angeles the team came across the Piñata District just off of downtown LA and learned about the history of the district from one of the founding families.
In Atlanta, they took a trip to Little Five Points and met with Darryl Harris, owner of Moods Music, a major hub of soul. fashion and rare groove culture in the capital of the South.
It goes without saying that no travel show is complete without a worldly, charismatic host. Masters of Scale was interested in someone who was curious and had energy for days. Revelator led an international casting call with Vicky Boone Casting and narrowed the field down to a small gathering of likely potentials that included award winning journalists and actors. The team settled on actor and Discover Travel Show Host, Janet Hsieh, as someone who really fit the role and the Masters of Scale team eagerly agreed. As a Taiwanese/American actor, model and host of the Discover Channel’s Fun Taiwan, Janet brought her international travel experience and energy to the project. “Plus she was a blast to travel with,” reports Samantha Johnson.
You can see all six episodes and listen to the more in-depth podcasts on the Masters of Scale/Offsite Adventures website. Give it a watch/listen and learn a bit more about some of the hidden gems that are in plane sight. Stop in and say hello to the business owners we met and tell them that Revelator sent you.