I am loosely planning my pilot episode and I am considering Philadelphia as a primary destination. A photographer friend of mine from The City of Brotherly Love, Stacey Salter Moore, was in town for the PhotoPlus Expo with her company JPG photography. We met up at Javitz and walked to one of my favorite Hell’s Kitchen watering holes the Holland Bar to blab about ideas for my new show.

Much to my surprise Stacey invited Food Network Star Russell Jackson to join us in the discussion. Both Stacey and Russell gave me great ideas. Russell hammered home the point that the content is everything and admitted to shooting much of his web footage on an iPhone. He showed me some time lapse video that he shot of his underground restaurant and I had to agree.

Russell also discussed the idea that my show doesn’t even need to end up on a network station. He told me about many shows that are strictly web based and are very successful. He posed the question, “Do you want to be famous or make money? Because you will make more money on the web.” I thought about this and realized I wasn’t overly concerned with either. My goal is to share a story that will be inspiring to others. It’s about conquering fear. It’s about going for it.

I am learning there is no single way to create an episodic show. As corny as it sounds, I need to follow my heart and let the content ring true.  Good storytelling doesn’t need to be complex or technically advanced. An old Harlan Howard quote comes to mind. When asked how to write a great country song, Harlan simply replied, “Three chords and the truth.”

In an effort to collect as much information and gather as many ideas as possible, I contacted filmmaker James Repici. James is a Master’s Degree film student at Columbia University. I met him about 20 years ago when he was a fan of my eponymous band, Joe Popp. I saw him again for the first time since those old punk rock days at the now defunct Ding Dong Lounge about a year ago. He reintroduced himself and told me about the good fortune with his filmmaking career. He had recently won Best Florida Film Award at the Gasparilla International Film Festival for his feature Subprime. Both NYU and Columbia made him offers to come to their respective programs. He chose Columbia and relocated from Tampa to NYC.

I asked if he would meet with me to discuss ideas about my show. Yes he is 15 years younger than me, but his experience creating films far exceeds mine, so I thought I would pick his brain. I also wanted to hear from a creative person with a younger perspective.

We sat and had coffee at Cafe Amrita and he sparked a bunch of ideas. One specific idea is to get film school students from the locations I visit to help shoot footage. I want the show to have a D.I.Y. feel, but James insisted I am still going to need another person to point the camera.

James also thought the best way to gather interest is to actually shoot a test episode. I was already planning on doing this, but his enthusiasm cemented the need to get going on the planning of a destination right away.

Beyond his knowledge of visualizing and bringing a film to fruition, James is a straight up salt-of-the-earth dude and it was nice to chat with him about not only the past, but great things in the future. I am certain you’ll be hearing about James someday very soon…

I am lucky to know quite of few people in the film, documentary, news, design and art worlds. I decided to round up a few of these surly characters and meet at one of my favorite NYC bars, The Scratcher. Over a few pints of Guinness, we candidly discussed and brainstormed what this journey encapsulates.  I am trying to find the voice of Popp Over America. Is it a travel show? Is it a music show? Is it a food show? So many of these approaches have been done, but I am looking to combine all of them.

Some ideas that came out of this meeting are as follows:

• The journey should be an uninterrupted one, meaning I should leave on the tour and not return home until I have completed all 48 states.
• I should involve the local communities by asking questions of the places I visit. For instance: “What is the best BBQ in Austin?” or “What is the best singer songwriter venue in Chicago?” and let the locals have online battles and vote where I should go.
• I cannot generate support of a television network without content. I need to produce a trailer/teaser and perhaps even do a test show.

We had a great time and a lot of laughs discussing the project. Nothing beats old friends. beers, and ideas…