Making a Travel Show in Orlando, Without the Theme Parks...

You hear Orlando and you probably picture rollercoasters and sweaty families in Mickey Mouse ears. I did too. So when I was asked to direct a travel show for Expedia and Visit Orlando, I was a bit surprised by the brief. They didn’t want to feature the theme parks. Not a single rollercoaster or mascot in sight.

Instead, the focus was on everything but that — the hidden corners of Orlando, the outdoorsy stuff, the local flavour you don’t usually see in travel promos. I’ll admit, I was curious. Orlando’s got a brand that’s practically impenetrable. Everyone thinks they know what it is. But underneath all that? There’s a lot going on.

The show is called The Next Turn — the brainchild of my good friends and long-time collaborators at Whitcombe James. I’d worked on the series before, mostly in the edit, so I already had a good feel for the tone and the pace. But this was my first time stepping into the director’s seat.

With that came the challenge: how do you bring something fresh to a show you already know so well, while still keeping it true to the format? That balance was important to me — I wanted to give it energy, cohesion, and really let the destination shine whilst also putting my mark on it.

The end result? It became the episode Whitcombe James are now using as a reference point for future ones. A full-circle moment I wasn’t expecting — but one I’m really proud of.

In this post, I’m taking you behind the scenes — and sharing what I learned while trying to tell a new story in a city everyone thinks they already know.

Mangroves to Manatees

To build the itinerary, I basically went full detective. Zooming in on Google Maps late into the night. Digging through obscure Reddit threads. Looking for anything within the city that didn’t involve standing in a queue for three hours.

The client, Visit Orlando also had a great tool I could search through, and they brought a few solid suggestions to the table too. But a lot of it was just back-and-forth: pitching wild ideas, checking what was possible at that time of year, what would actually work logistically, and then narrowing it down to the good stuff.

We ended up with 6 activities, it was a packed schedule, and we only had a few hours at each spot. But what we saw — especially in the more nature-based spots — genuinely surprised me. The crystal clear spring water at Rock Springs inside a rainforest. Kayaking through that at golden hour was easily one of the most beautiful experiences I’ve ever had.

A Small (But Mighty) Crew

We kept the crew lean: me, Alex (from Whitcombe James), Harry (filmmaker/drone op), and Lindsay (our U.S.-based producer who’s worked on the whole series). We were all wearing multiple hats. Everyone shot, everyone directed, everyone carried gear.

That kind of team is a dream for me. No egos. Just good people who are great at what they do and happy to throw themselves into it. I’d brief them beforehand because once we hit the ground, there was no time to stop and explain things. You just have to trust your crew will get the shots, adapt when things change, and make the most of the moments you don’t plan for.

Our host, Jo Franco, was brilliant. Charismatic, warm, totally switched on. She speaks seven languages, so at one point during the food tour at Boxi Park, she just drops into Spanish mid-convo with one of the chefs. Stuff like that gives the whole show texture and personality — and none of it was scripted.

Flow State

Early on, I made a call to not lean too heavily on voiceover. I wanted the transitions between locations to feel more natural. So we’d try to end each scene with a contributor teeing up the next experience. Something like: “You think this was fun? Wait until you hit the airboats tomorrow.” It made the edit feel more immersive and less narrated.

It also meant we had to commit to a certain structure early on, which is risky in fast-turnaround projects like this, but I think it paid off. It gives the episode a kind of forward momentum that’s more satisfying to watch.

Crashes, Hurricanes and a Redneck Airboat Captain

We didn’t go overboard with flashy visuals for this one, which was a welcome change of pace for me — the tone of the show is quite grounded and relied on genuine interactions and good ol' fashioned storytelling.

We did try a new dual-op drone setup (me and Harry) on tighter lenses for the kayaking and ATV sequences, which gave the footage a much more cinematic edge than your usual drone wide shots. We also threw in a 360 camera here and there for high-energy bits like the zipline runs.

There were a few chaotic moments, of course. It’s Florida in summer — so we had a storm warning one day and had to reshuffle the whole shoot. Two of our key activities (airboat and manatee tours) got cancelled last-minute — one provider even went bust days before we landed. Luckily, our producer Lindsay is an absolute weapon and sorted replacements with basically no stress.

And then there was the airboat captain we ended up with — a real Deep South character, full throttle, total wildcard. Honestly felt like he’d wandered off the set of a Coen Brothers film. Would’ve loved to give him more screen time, but with only 15 minutes to play with, there just wasn’t space.

Oh — and shoutout to Alex, who climbed out of the airboat and stood in the actual swamp to get a shot of us passing by. Fully aware there were gators in there. Absolute lunatic, but that's what I've learned to expect from Alex.

Always Learning

The biggest thing I learned? Travel filmmaking is never as controlled as you want it to be. You can plan every detail, lock in every location, time everything to the minute — and it’ll still go sideways. But that’s kind of the magic of it too. You get these unplanned, unrepeatable moments. You adapt. You pivot. You get on with it.

What really matters is the people you’re working with. A good crew will carry you through the chaos. A good host will elevate every scene. And if you’ve done your research, if you’ve found some local gems and structured a story that flows naturally, you’ll come out with something honest.