DI resident launches 'Good All Over' global reality TV program
At first glance, Earl Bridges looks every part the “Daniel Island Dad” with a bright smile, collared shirt, and a pick-up truck in which he drives his kid to school. But this Southern gentleman is also a force in international philanthropy.
Having grown up an Air Force “brat” and missionary kid, Bridges spent most of his formative years in Southeast Asia. Professionally he has long been successful in helping corporations expand their charitable footprints through his company, Good Done Great. Launched from his kitchen table on Daniel Island, Good Done Great works with Fortune 500 companies to maximize their corporate responsibility efforts through data-driven storytelling across the globe.
Now Bridges and his crew of “philanthropologists” have endeavored to expand their work into filmmaking by creating a reality TV show that explores the gritty side of charity work. The result is the fascinating “Good All Over” docu-series (www.goodallover.tv).
“Global philanthropy is a messy business,” says Bridges. “It’s hard work carried out by imperfect people living on the fringes of civilization. And when you work very far from the limelight, it’s not hard to get forgotten. We seek to change all that through visual storytelling.”
The show is like “Anthony Bourdain meets Extreme Makeover,” explains Bridges. It is set in locales as far away as Indonesia, Myanmar and Uganda, and as close to home as Alabama, where the crew spent a week filming in February. Bridges acts as producer and host of the series.
“It’s a cocktail of politics, religion and culture set against exotic backdrops,” he adds. “But it’s the characters and the storytelling that’s compelling.”
According to Bridges, “Good All Over” wants to engage viewers by showing not just people making a difference, but who they’re serving and how they’re doing so.
Surrounded by experienced cinematographers, this is the first unscripted docu-series that Bridges has produced. “We’re trying to focus on the people that are personally providing the last mile of services directly to the recipient,” he said.
The series is not necessarily “feel good television” - it’s real, yet there is nothing exploitive about this particular reality TV, Bridges says. “The idea is to explore the messy, gritty side of charity work. And to celebrate the people doing the work, as well as the fascinating communities receiving the assistance.”
The footage in “Good All Over” is rare, unfiltered and filmed in real time. One episode features a brave Ugandan boy smiling at the center of a rarely seen circumcision ceremony. Another takes place in a church in Alabama where gunshots can be heard ringing out nearby.
“Good All Over” is still in the fundraising stage and completing final work on the pilot episode. After a successful Kickstarter campaign, the team has numerous trips on the horizon. A google search for “Good All Over - Earl Bridges” yields a memorable montage of the amazing footage they have shot thus far.
“We film the last line of hands that deliver the help,” says Bridges. “...The workers digging holes for wells, the needles that inject the vaccination. We try to tell the stories of that last set of hands with curiosity, humility and humanity. It’s fun to watch and fulfilling to be a part of.”
The show is set to premiere on April 28 during Charleston’s DIG South, unless it is acquired by a television network. For more information, visit www.GoodAllOver.tv.