A Cinematic Travel Series

OFF THE TABLE.

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

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The pilot episode is funded and officially in production. Thank you!
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01 / The Show

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

Off The Table is a cinematic travel doc-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. Season one begins in El Salvador.

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.

02 / Watch

SEE IT FOR YOURSELF

Ricky Seaman in profile, half-lit at the table
Meet the host
Most people read about the world.
Ricky goes and eats with it.
Ricky Seaman on the road in a night marketOn the road
Ricky Seaman between takes on locationBetween takes
Ricky Seaman travelling with localsGetting there
Ricky Seaman on location with a local guideFar from the headlines
Get close.
Stay curious.
The man at the table

RICKY SEAMAN

Ricky has been moving since he was twelve. A documentary-film degree, a Master's in international affairs, and then the decision that set everything else in motion: he walked away from a comfortable career to live out of a rucksack for years, off the edges of the map, one country and one language at a time.

He does not parachute in for a piece to camera. He learns the words before he lands, sits at the table, eats what is served, and listens. Nine languages, more than a hundred countries, and the same instinct every time. Get close, stay curious, and let people tell it themselves.

That is the whole show. Not a host performing a place, but a man genuinely welcome in it, turning strangers into a conversation and a shared meal into understanding.

"Sit down, share a meal, and the distance starts to disappear."
25k+
Global Audience
100+
Countries Travelled
9
Languages
1
Table At A Time
03 / The Format

TWO HALVES OF
ONE TRUTH

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

A Salvadoran market at dusk, hanging bulbs and produce, where the journey begins
01

The Journey

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.

Ricky Seaman and director Mark Dearborn talking over drinks at a New York bar
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.

A colonial street in El Salvador at dusk, string lights strung overhead and a volcano beyond
El Salvador
The series travels far to sit close
04 / The Pilot

THE FIRST
TABLE IS IN
EL SALVADOR

Episode One, The Table of Transformation

El Salvador has gone from one of the most dangerous countries on earth to one of the safest in the Western Hemisphere. Ricky sits down where the food is, with the people who lived that change, and lets the conversation carry him past the headline into the story people actually live.

The journey unfolds through shared meals with everyday Salvadorans, renowned chefs, law enforcement, senior government leaders, and those living the realities of El Salvador's transformation. Food as the way in, language as the key, curiosity over certainty.

Ep 01In production
Dec 2026Filming in El Salvador
Five tablesThe capital to the president
Support the Film
Two people sharing a meal by hand across a rustic table in El Salvador at golden hour
Language as access. Food as a key. One table at a time.
The Journey

FIVE TABLES,
ONE COUNTRY

From the capital to the countryside, the pilot moves table by table across El Salvador. Step through the route below, or drag and zoom the map to explore the real terrain of the country.

Before the road
From New York
El Salvador · Dec 2026
Drag to explore · scroll the cards to travel
00
Before the road

From New York

The departure

The crew leaves New York for a country the headlines call transformed. No gloss, no performance, just a question worth the distance.

The journey begins
01
Dec 11-12

San Salvador

The Capital · Security

Everyday life first: a neighbourhood pupusa maker, then a police ride-along and a meal with the officers, then a journalist who has chronicled the change.

Three tables in the capital
02
Dec 13

Tecoluca

The Prison · CECOT

East to CECOT, one of the world's most debated prisons. A tour of the facility, then a meal with the correctional officers who work inside it.

A table inside the walls
03
Dec 14

Sonsonate

The People

Into the mountains with chef Alexander Herrera, to a meal with an Indigenous family whose community still keeps its ancestral language alive.

A table in the mountains
04
Dec 15

Santa Ana

The President

The final table. Coffee country, volcanic landscape, and a shared meal with President Nayib Bukele on his family's plantation.

The last table
05
The return

Back to New York

The Conversation

Home again, Ricky and director Mark Dearborn reflect. Not a verdict, but an invitation, to choose curiosity over certainty.

The meaning, reshaped
Before the road

From New York

The crew leaves New York for a country the headlines call transformed.

Dec 11-12

San Salvador

A pupusa maker, a police ride-along, and a journalist. Three tables in the capital.

Dec 13

Tecoluca · CECOT

A tour of the Terrorism Confinement Center and a meal with the officers inside.

Dec 14

Sonsonate

Into the mountains with chef Alexander Herrera to share a meal with an Indigenous family.

Dec 15

Santa Ana

Coffee country, and the final table with President Nayib Bukele on his family's plantation.

The return

Back to New York

Ricky and Mark Dearborn reflect. Not a verdict, but an invitation to curiosity.

First glimpses

EL SALVADOR,
IN FRAGMENTS

A feel for the first table long before the edit. Snippets from the road as the season takes shape.

Misty El Salvador colonial street at dusk with string lightsThe town, at dusk
Hands breaking open a freshly fried stuffed pastry at the tableThe first table
A Salvadoran market at dusk under hanging bulbsWhere the food is
On the coast
Where the day ends
Food is just the beginning.

Imagery is indicative while the pilot is in production.

05 / 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.

El Salvador
EP 01

El Salvador

The pilot. A nation reinventing itself, told from the table out.

In Production
Greenland
EP 02

Greenland

At the edge of the ice, a way of life holding fast against the thaw.

Planned
China
EP 03

China

The many identities you find around a single table.

Planned
Nepal
EP 04

Nepal

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

Planned
Algeria
EP 05

Algeria

With the Tuareg for an ancient desert celebration, and a meal centuries in the making.

Planned
Philippines
EP 06

Philippines

History and resilience, served at one table in the country's south.

Planned
Brazil
EP 07

Brazil

From the rainforest out, the food systems that bind a vast country together.

Planned
Syria
EP 08

Syria

Displacement traced back to its origin, one recipe at a time.

Planned

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

06 / The Team

FRIENDS WITH A
CAMERA

Not a network production with a fixer and a crew flown in. Three friends who have been making things together for years, building a doc-series the only way they know how, on trust, curiosity and a shared table.

Ricky Seaman
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
MARK DEARBORN
Producer • Co-Creator

An award-winning director and producer 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
MARCO VITALE
Cinematographer • Producer

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.

07 / Questions

THE SHORT ANSWERS

What is Off The Table?
Off The Table is a cinematic travel doc-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 does season one begin?
Season one opens with the first episode in El Salvador, in production now. Each episode is a single place and a single table, and we will share the full run of destinations as they lock.
How can I support the series?
The pilot is funded, thanks to over a hundred backers. You can still support the series, follow along, and share it. A dedicated support page is on the way.
Come Along

PULL UP
A CHAIR

You don't need a network to be part of this. Back the film, follow the road, or just come along for the ride. Every seat at the table counts.

Funded by 108 backers Back the film

Fund the
journey

The pilot is funded, thanks to 108 backers. You can still pull up a chair and help make what comes next.

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Field Notes

Notes from
the road

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with us

New dispatches, stills and stories, straight from the road.

An El Salvador town plaza at dusk under string lights
Get in touch

SAY HELLO

A question, an idea, a place we should film. Whatever it is, the table is open. For press and partnerships, the press page has a dedicated form.

Goes straight to the team.