A LAND TO PROTECT

I traveled to Iceland with my friend and creative partner, Kat Severin, out of a need to escape and rediscover myself. At the time, I didn’t think of myself as a documentarian. I only carried a curiosity for the natural world, shaped in part by the guidance of National Geographic filmmaker and Explorer’s Club member Kevin McCarey. What I experienced in Iceland changed the direction of my life.

Over five days, Kat and I drove the entire perimeter of the country—sleep-deprived, cold, exhilarated, and unable to look away from the landscapes unfolding around us. Waterfalls thundered beside quiet moss plains. Volcanic fields stretched into fog. The earth felt raw, ancient, untouched. And what struck me most was how deeply Iceland valued this natural identity. Their tourism industry—one of the strongest pillars of their economy—thrives not because of theme parks, manufactured attractions, or endless development, but because people travel across the world simply to witness nature as it is. Iceland has protected its land not by limiting access, but by refusing to commodify it. The landscape is the experience. The appreciation is the value.

That realization stayed with me long after we returned home.

I began to see the places in my own country differently—how easily we overlook the landscapes that define us, and how urgently we need a shift in perspective. That’s what sparked the idea for a larger documentary, one that draws comparisons between Iceland and a region far closer to home: the Smoky Mountains. This winter, Kat and I will continue our journey there, documenting its ridgelines, forests, wildlife, and the communities intertwined with them. By filming both Iceland and the Smokies within the same project, we hope to create a cinematic dialogue between two environments half a world apart—revealing both their stunning diversity and their deep commonality.

Alongside these landscapes, we will speak with scientists, conservationists, cultural historians, ecologists, and park officials—people who dedicate their lives to understanding and protecting land. Through these perspectives, our film aims to examine what it means for a country to truly value its environment, and how Iceland’s mindset might serve as a model for preserving the natural spaces within our own borders.

This is my first time stepping into the world of documentary filmmaking, and I have never felt a calling as immediate or personal as this one. What began as an escape has become a responsibility. I hope this film inspires audiences to look at the familiar with new eyes—to recognize that the extraordinary landscapes we chase abroad also exist within our own reach, and that we bear the obligation to protect them.

This documentary is not simply about Iceland or the Smokies. It is about a shift in attitude: a belief that our land is worth reverence, worth defending, and worth experiencing with the same awe that draws millions of people to Iceland every year. If our film can spark even a small part of that awareness, then this journey will have been more than worth it.