Exciting news! I’ve just signed a development deal with the iconic Wolper Organization ( Oscars, Emmys, Peabody’s, Golden Globes, etc) to turn the Travel Therapy book into a reality TV series!
I actually started working on the treatment for the Travel Therapy television show even before I sold the book. Once I came up with the concept of Travel Therapy I knew it would translated perfectly into empowering and entertaining television and I couldn’t wait to get started making it happen.
It feels so good to create something unique, that has never been done before on television, where I can also “pay it forward” and help people.
It’s also great to pull from my background in television. I worked full time in television, mostly in front of the camera as a reporter/anchor/host for 15 years, but I’ve done it all from shoot my own stories, edit, produce and executive produce television series and documentaries.
I won my first Emmy working as an executive producer and talent for a half hour documentary where I was the first journalist ever embedded with troops in Bosnia. I won my second Emmy covering illegal immigration along the Southern Border and my third Emmy in 2007, executive producing an hour television special profiling my work as an embedded war correspondent in Afghanistan.
After I got home from Afghanistan I realized I’ve always used travel to help me deal with whatever I was going through in life and the whole idea of Travel Therapy was born. The concept is with Travel Therapy you can change your attitude by changing your environment.
So instead of just popping pills or heading to a therapist every time you hit a bump in the road—Travel Therapy is all about getting up off the couch and moving forward by using travel to help empower and inspire you into a new frame of mind.
Stressed out at work? Dealing with a breakup? Looking for Romance? Travel Therapy can help!
The next step in my journey was to partner with the right team to make the Travel Therapy show a reality ( no pun intended!). I talked to a lot of people who were very interested but I’ve been cautious. It had to be just the right fit, someone who really “gets it” and in the end I found the right team and couldn’t be happier to work with the legendary Wolper Organization.
Here is a little more about the Wolper Organization:
The Wolper Organization
…under the leadership of David Wolper and his son Mark Wolper, has been responsible for over 500 films, have won more than 150 awards, including two Oscars, 50 Emmys, seven Golden Globes, five Peabodys, and recognition and retrospectives from Cannes and other respected international film festivals.
The Wolper Organization originated such documentary series as National Geographic, Biography, Jacques Cousteau Specials, David Wolper Presents…Plimpton!, American Heritage and Primal Man. Most recently, the Wolpers have produced Legends, Icons and Superstars of the 20th Century for DISCOVERY ON PEOPLE, and Celebrate the Century for CNN.
The Wolper Organization looks at ‘reality’ as just a new name for ‘documentary,’ a category of programming that virtually launched The Wolper Organization. The network demands for original, dramatic, compelling programming continues to grow at an exponential rate with stories based on true life events particularly in demand.
Eight new projects are in the works for A&E, TNT, Showtime, NBC, CBS, Lifetime and E! Entertainment. The slate is diverse with many projects based on real life stories that make for compelling television viewing.
For A&E, The Wolper Organization produced God or the Girl, a series following five potential seminarians and their journey to the decision to join the priesthood, or not. Penn & Teller: Off the Deep End, is a two hour primetime special for NBC shot in the Caribbean with the two performing a magic show underwater. Earth Angel, a sort of “positive Punk’d” special that sought out worthy people who have made an unusual and selfless contribution to their fellow man, was produced and broadcast on Lifetime. Also for Showtime, we produced a documentary on medical marijuana titled In Pot We Trust.
Mark Wolper is also executive producer of the multiple-Emmy-nominated Penn & Teller: BULLSH*T! which has become Showtime’s signature show and has just begun it’s sixth season. Instant Beauty Pageant is a series entering its third season of production for E! Style Television.
I can’t wait to get started!
Stay tuned for more news about the Travel Therapy reality series!
