DESTINATIONS
ARE BETTER
THROUGH STORY
Conversations from the sky that celebrate the people and places that make destinations unforgettable.
Backseat Stories is a cinematic video series where I fly with incredible people over places meaningful to them—capturing authentic conversations paired with sweeping aerial visuals and perspective from above.
The series creates a completely different environment for storytelling. Memories surface differently in the air. Landscapes become part of the conversation. And destinations are experienced in a way that feels emotional, human, and visually unforgettable. Not a commercial. Not an influencer campaign. A real story.
Why It Works For Destinations
Backseat Stories naturally aligns with destination storytelling because every meaningful place already has incredible stories living within it. Rather than relying on forced messaging or traditional tourism marketing, the series allows destinations to be experienced through authentic conversation, emotional connection, and perspective from above.
The landscape itself becomes part of the story.
From the air, participants naturally point out mountain ranges, coastlines, landmarks, recreation zones, neighborhoods, and meaningful places in real time—creating a visually compelling and emotionally grounded way to experience the destination. Proximity, access, and scale suddenly become easier to understand from above. A mountain range feels accessible. A coastline feels nostalgic. A town feels personal.
Every region has incredible personalities deeply connected to the place they call home—athletes, artists, guides, pioneers, historians, adventurers, and storytellers shaped by the surrounding landscape. Backseat Stories simply creates a unique environment for those stories to naturally unfold.
No one else is creating conversations from the sky in this way.
Upcoming Destination Stories
Pismo Beach, California – June 2026
Exploring the unique proximity between California’s Central Coast beaches and inland wine country—highlighting how surf culture, coastal living, and vineyard landscapes all exist within a short distance of one another, creating a lifestyle and perspective uniquely tied to the region.
Jackson Hole, Wyoming – June/July 2026
Developing a story centered around Grand Teton National Park and the people helping shape and protect one of America’s most iconic landscapes. The concept would celebrate the legacy, perspective, and emotional connection surrounding the park and greater Jackson Hole region during a meaningful year for America’s national parks and public lands.
Sun Valley, Idaho – Fall 2026
Exploring the idea of perspective, proximity, and outdoor access throughout the Wood River Valley from above. The story would highlight the unique relationship between town, airport access, surrounding mountain ranges, and the vast recreation opportunities that exist within minutes of Sun Valley—told through conversation with personalities deeply connected to the region’s outdoor culture and wilderness landscapes.
Every destination has a unique angle. The best stories are the ones that feel naturally rooted in place.
How Partnerships Work
Each Backseat Stories collaboration is tailored specifically to the destination and featured participant, but most partnerships include story development, participant coordination, a full production / story flight day, long-form episode editing, short-form social reels, scenic footage delivery, and a collaborative review process. Most destination partners are added as collaborators during social distribution, and many choose to support the release with modest ad spend to help extend reach and engagement. The overall process is intentionally lightweight, flexible, and collaborative from start to finish.
Typical Partnership Structure
Most Backseat Stories collaborations are structured around a flat $5,000 Project Fee.
This typically includes the full creative process from start to finish, including:
- Story development and participant coordination
- Full Backseat Story production day
- Aircraft, filming, and audio capture
- Long-form episode edit
- 3 short-form social reels
- Collaborative social media rollout
- YouTube release
- Scenic footage delivery for destination use
- Post-production communication and revisions
The goal is to create a polished, evergreen piece of content that feels authentic to both the destination and the featured personality—something audiences genuinely want to watch and destinations are proud to share.
Travel & Additional Days
Depending on the location and production complexity, additional travel or weather contingency days are billed at a flat $1,500/day
The additional day rate is intended to keep the structure simple and flexible while covering travel time, flight expenses, lodging, weather delays, and the additional coordination that often comes with remote productions. Every story is a little different depending on the destination and participant involved. For context, a recent production in St. Louis required three additional travel days on top of the primary story flight day. The goal is to keep the process collaborative and adaptable while allowing each story to naturally unfold around the destination, the people, and the conditions surrounding the production.
What Makes This Different
Backseat Stories sits somewhere between documentary, podcast, adventure film, and destination storytelling—but the perspective changes everything. These conversations happen while flying above the landscapes being discussed in real time. The scenery below becomes emotionally tied to the memories, stories, and perspectives unfolding in the aircraft.
The goal is not simply to market a destination. It’s to create something people genuinely want to watch—while celebrating places in a way that feels authentic, cinematic, emotional, and deeply human.
