SWAMPSCOTT — The North Shore may seem like an unlikely place for a film writer and director from New York City to relocate, but it’s exactly where Ryan Fenson-Hood, one of the creative minds behind the new Amazon Prime show, “Get Out There with Ryan Van Duzer,” has landed.
Born and raised in Boulder, Colo., the FAMU National Film School graduate — and co-founder of NYC-based production house, Cinomadic — spent 12 years of his career in Brooklyn creating award-winning short films and documentaries before he and his wife, Amanda Alba, made the difficult decision to move when Alba was offered a job in Beverly.
After a search of nearby towns, the pair eventually settled on a home in Swampscott.
“I always wanted to live on the beach because I grew up landlocked and lived in cities, so we said, ‘let’s do it,’” said Fenson-Hood, now a father of two.
Although he joked he was initially wary about moving to a town with so few coffee shops (“everything is about getting that espresso, getting that Americano twice a day,” he said of his time in New York), Fenson-Hood was drawn to Swampscott’s small-town charm.
“It ended up being this amazing blessing in disguise,” he said, adding that his family’s move to the scenic North Shore allowed him to explore new outdoor activities.
“I always wanted to surf, so I wound up learning. I’ve been here five years now and I surf all the time at the surrounding beaches,” he said. “My mom came and she was like, ‘Ryan, you’re just going to have to get a coffee maker.’”
Because of its scenic landscapes and close proximity to the water, Fenson-Hood suggested his new hometown as a potential filming location when he and fellow filmmaker, YouTuber, and longtime friend Ryan Van Duzer first broached the idea of producing their own travel show.
Based off the format of Van Duzer’s YouTube videos, the four-part series — which premiered in January — visits a different part of the country each episode, encouraging locals to join Van Duzer for various outdoor challenges that foster a sense of unity and teamwork.
“There wasn’t a big budget, so I said, ‘let’s do it here.’ I knew I could get a local crew to come on board who would be excited (to do this),'” Fenson-Hood said.
Colorado-based Van Duzer (‘Ryan Van Duzer’ on YouTube) said he was excited to shoot the show’s first episode on the North Shore, despite the fact filming would take place in the middle of the frigid New England winter.
“It was early January, so it was freezing cold, but I love the charm of the East Coast,” he said. “It’s a lot different than Colorado. Just the history and the architecture and the buildings and the ocean — I’m a landlocked Colorado guy, so even just seeing the open sea is exciting for me.”
He added: “(Ryan) loves showing off the beauty of his town, so I think it was a way for him to lure me in and show me how much he loves the culture out there.”
The show put out a call for local residents to participate and soon they had their dream team, as well as their first challenge: Paddleboarding across Nahant Bay.
Fenson-Hood said that when he first pitched the challenge to the show’s creative team, the idea was initially met with mixed reactions.
“The first response was like, ‘why would you ever do that?’ The second was like, ‘oh, because it’s going to be freezing and it’s going to be torture,’” he said.
However, Van Duzer said paddleboarding under such extreme conditions was what helped bring the show’s first team of adventurers together.
“It was actually snowing when we started. It was really, really cold, and that was kind of an equalizer. Everybody was equally uncomfortable,” he said. “But that’s also kind of what brought us together, because we were all having this shared experience.”
The first episode of ‘Get Out There with Ryan Van Duzer’ is available now on Amazon Prime and Van Duzer’s YouTube channel. In light of the coronavirus outbreak, Van Duzer and Fenson-Hood have waived the $2 viewing fee.
“It’s a refreshing show that takes average people out on adventures, and it helps the viewer to (realize), ‘wow, those guys are doing something. I can go do something,’” Van Duzer said. “That’s the mission with this show — to really inspire viewers to try something new and get outside.”
