Dawn mist rising over the Amazon river with a small canoe in the distance
A Cinematic Travel Series

OFF THE TABLE.

Food as access. Language as a key. A documentary series that closes the distance between people, one shared meal at a time.

Back The Pilot Watch The Trailer
The pilot is funding now on Seed&Spark
Scroll
Connection Begins At The Table • Food • Language • Proximity Changes Everything • Sit Down, Share A Meal, Talk • Connection Begins At The Table • Food • Language • Proximity Changes Everything • Sit Down, Share A Meal, Talk • Connection Begins At The Table • Food • Language • Proximity Changes Everything • Sit Down, Share A Meal, Talk •
01 / The Show

THIS ISN'T A
FOOD SHOW.
IT'S A BRIDGE.

Off The Table is a cinematic travel documentary series created by hyper-polyglot filmmaker Ricky Seaman and director Mark Dearborn. Using shared meals and common language, Ricky enters spaces most travellers never reach, then unpacks each journey in conversation back in New York. The first episode films in the Brazilian Amazon.

We live in a moment where outrage travels faster than understanding. Whole countries and communities get reduced to headlines while algorithms reward the extremes. Off The Table exists because proximity changes everything. Misunderstanding thrives at a distance. The antidote is simple. Sit down, share a meal, and talk.

197
Countries, The Mission
101
Visited So Far
8
Languages
1
Table At A Time
02 / The Format

TWO HALVES OF
ONE TRUTH

Every episode is built from two complementary experiences, the journey and the reckoning.

01

The Table

Ricky uses food as access. Speaking the language and understanding the context, he enters kitchens, street stalls and family tables, where conversation moves quickly past pleasantries into lived reality. These are not curated experiences. The camera does not observe from a distance. It sits at the table.

02

The Conversation

Back in New York, Ricky and director Mark Dearborn unpack the journey the way they always have, across a table at a neighbourhood bar, drinks in hand. What did we miss? What did we misunderstand? What assumptions did we bring with us? The meaning is tested and reshaped through the dialogue.

03 / The Pilot

THE INVISIBLE
TABLE OF THE
AMAZON

Ricky travels deep into the Brazilian Amazon, to the edge of one of the most isolated regions on Earth, chasing one of the last great human mysteries: who are the last uncontacted peoples on Earth, and what connects us across worlds that never meet?

Because contact is forbidden, Ricky traces the hidden food systems at the edges of their territories, following how ingredients sustain nearby communities and ripple out into the modern world, from remote rainforest villages to the streets of Sao Paulo.

See The Pilot & Back It
Weathered hands sharing a simple meal by candlelight in a dim Amazon village
8 days. New York to Manaus, Tabatinga, Vale do Javari and Sao Paulo.
04 / The Season

ONE WORLD,
MANY TABLES

Each episode stands alone, a single place, a single table, a single set of questions. Together they form a broader portrait of a connected world.

EP 01

The Amazon

The pilot. Hidden food systems at the edge of the world's most isolated region.

In Production
EP 02

Syria

A table in a country the headlines never let you see whole.

Planned
EP 03

Nepal

Altitude, ritual, and the meals that hold a community together.

Planned
EP 04

Philadelphia

You do not have to cross an ocean to find a world you have never met.

Planned
EP 05

Greenland

The far north, where food is survival and survival is shared.

Planned
EP 06

El Salvador

A place reinventing its own story, told from the table out.

Planned

Season one destinations are indicative and subject to production and access.

05 / The Team

FRIENDS WITH A
CAMERA

RICKY SEAMAN
Host • Producer • Co-Creator

A hyper-polyglot traveller, documentary filmmaker and former global affairs analyst with a Master's in International Affairs. Ricky has lived in nine countries, travelled to more than one hundred, and studied eight languages, connecting directly with communities across cultures and borders.

MARK DEARBORN
Director • Producer • Co-Creator

An award-winning producer and director known for cinematic, emotionally resonant storytelling grounded in real human experience. His documentary work spans Syrian refugee camps to grassroots foundations in Haiti, always centring dignity, nuance and lived truth.

MARCO VITALE
Director Of Photography

An award-winning cinematographer rooted in documentary realism and visual experimentation. With a fearless eye for composition and an instinct for capturing truth in motion, Marco finds texture, intimacy and unexpected beauty in people and places.

06 / Watch

SEE IT FOR YOURSELF

07 / Questions

THE SHORT ANSWERS

What is Off The Table?
Off The Table is a cinematic travel documentary series created by hyper-polyglot filmmaker Ricky Seaman and director Mark Dearborn. Using shared meals and common language, Ricky enters spaces most travellers never reach, then unpacks each journey in conversation back in New York.
Who is Ricky Seaman?
Ricky Seaman is a hyper-polyglot traveller, documentary filmmaker and former global affairs analyst. He has lived in nine countries, travelled to more than one hundred, and studied eight languages. He is the host and co-creator of Off The Table.
Where is the pilot filmed?
The pilot, The Invisible Table of the Amazon, is filmed in the Brazilian Amazon. The route runs from New York to Manaus, Tabatinga and the Vale do Javari, then out to Sao Paulo.
How can I support the series?
You can back the pilot on Seed&Spark from ten dollars. Pledges fund travel and ethical access, the on-the-ground production, post-production, and the New York conversation shoot. A portion goes directly to the local and Indigenous communities the series engages with.
44% funded, 26 days left

HELP US FILM
THE FIRST EPISODE

The pilot is the proof of concept that takes Off The Table to a global streaming audience. Back it, share it, and pull up a chair.

Back The Pilot
Stay At The Table

BE FIRST TO WATCH

Drop your email for the pilot release, behind-the-scenes notes from the road, and where to watch.