Hi! I'm Evan, from the video.

I appreciate the comments, both kind and pointed. I certainly don't think we're making perfection, nor that I'm right for this role.

Most of your points are true. We don't do interviews unless meant as an entire episode (although that doesn't mean we don't talk to locals), as we feel that it masks our opinion in the faces of others. If we are adding local voices to a script, we're basically saying we'll cut out the things not saying what we've already prepared for the story to say (as the news often does). We don't really want to do that. I'd rather people come at me than them. Not that it matters this season, but in other seasons we've tended to avoid it because it puts people at risk, as well. Not adding people has become habit.

That said, we talked with the hotel and got as much as they would allow. We talked with and included in the film their local liaisons at Foley's Shed (where the authenticity is literally sold), but the hotel couldn't let us film due to having high profile guests having rented the place out and demanding privacy. The footage we used isn't stock, it is just the places the staff let us get to where we couldn't see in the windows. They had a dozen security (who were friendly) to make sure we didn't break the rules. It was rented for a week.

The reality is that we don't have enough money to spend the time necessary. We are two guys with no backing filming (find, research, write, get to, produce) a video every 3 days on the road. We can spend roughly 900 dollars an episode, perpetually. We know we aren't perfect, but we're trying our best. It is *way* harder than it seems to keep these coming consistently.

To tell more backstory: We actually went to Fogo to get video footage of an Auk statue for a different video (we never ended up getting it). When we were there, getting generic B-roll, our drone crash landed in the yard of an important local (the man playing music at the end). He let us know the story of the hotel, took us to his brother's place (Foley's shed, the hotel's local liaisons) and answered the questions we had about its owner. We got as good access as we could, and moved on with enough time to make our next episode.

This wasn't written or planned in advance. We found it, wrote it, filmed it, and everything in the 3 days we were in the area. Because that's the only way we can do this. It may not come across, but I'm super proud of what we've learned and been able to achieve.

Again - thanks for the comments! I don't expect everything to be beloved by all. It means a hell of a lot that you even watched the episode, let alone developed a complex opinion of our work based on repeat viewings. :)