Your Donation May Fund The Next Big Thing In Travel Video

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Gaston Blanchet and Kerrin Sheldon are the travel filmmakers behind the Kickstarter project Humanity.TV, a short-documentary series that intends to break away from the traditional travel host format and instead feature authentic stories of locals from all over the world telling their own stories in their own land.

If successful, Humanity.TV will launch an online and tablet video series that features “interviews with locals about their culture, their life, and their country, giving viewers an in-depth look into the lives of people from every corner of the globe — from an elephant sanctuary founder in Northern Thailand to a hip-hop DJ in Japan.”

Ultimately, Humanity.TV’s stated goal “is to create a series that shows what truly makes travel special — the people you encounter who create lasting experiences — rather than showcasing a bubbly host at a luxury resort.” Take that bubbly hosts!

So, what can you expect if the project reaches its $25,000 goal in the next 20 days ($24,000 to go as of the date of this post)?

Per their page:

1) Continue to produce high-quality short documentaries all over the world, with South America, Africa, and Eastern Europe up next for our teams.

2) Add a community-created storytelling element to the project, where we give locals the chance to tell their own story. We supply them with a camera and they tell the world about themselves, their home, and what their passions are. This will allow the subjects to truly open up and define (for the rest of the world) what living in their city and culture is really like.

3) Help us revolutionize travel content by creating new ways to experience these unique stories, whether it’s on the web or through our forthcoming interactive tablet experience.

And, as you know, no Kickstarter campaign is complete without a giveaway, the bigger the more you donate. $25 gets you a one-year access to all issues and videos of Humanity.TV, plus a shout-out on their Facebook page. But, for you high-rollers, if you shell out a portion of your Bar Mitzvah savings and invest $1,000, you’ll get an HD video made of the event of your choosing by Gaston and Kerrin, say, of your wedding, or if you’re Katie Couric, your next colonoscopy.

For more information, check out their Kickstarter page here, or a sampling of their videos on Vimeo here.