Director Of Emmy-Contending Travel Series ‘On A Quest: With Jaswant’ Goes Swimming Off Portugal With Dolphins. Only Hitch? “I’m Not A Good Swimmer”

Sunil Sadarangani

June 14, 2024 at 5:45 p.m.·7 min read

As they scan their Emmy nomination ballots, TV Academy voters are considering a number of travel-themed series for recognition, among them The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, and On a Quest: with Jaswant.

The latter show, written, directed and starring Nepal-born Jaswant Dev Shrestha, is the rare travel series told from the perspective of a filmmaker. Season 1, consisting of six episodes, finds Jaswant exploring parts of Portugal to “document untold stories, history, hidden wonders, arts, culture, food, people, and places.” Winner of Best Travel Series at the 2023 International Tourism Film Festival in Turkey and Best Independent Documentary at the 2023 Zagreb Tourfilm Festival in Croatia, On a Quest: with Jaswant is in competition for Primetime Emmys in multiple categories: Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series Or Special, and outstanding writing, editing, cinematography and directing for a documentary/non-fiction program.

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Jaswant Dev Shrestha in 'On a Quest: with Jaswant' — Jaswant Dev Shrestha in ‘On a Quest: with Jaswant’

Shrestha made history as the first Nepali to win a regional Emmy for his cultural series Festivals. He released On a Quest: with Jaswant domestically on his platform Creative Heights Entertainment (CHETV+). Program Buyer represents the series for international sales.

Deadline: As a storyteller what was the inspiration behind creating your travel series?

Jaswant Dev Shrestha: The inspiration goes a long way back. I’ve been doing travel shows back home as well, which is Nepal. I used to be a good history student in school, and I have explored India and Nepal and that Asian part of the world a lot. I just love traveling into the unknown, not necessarily the famous places, but going beyond the track, meeting with real hardworking people or connecting with artists who are unknown and exploring different cultures. I’ve always been fascinated with that.

Deadline: Why did you decide to focus on Portugal as the first season of the series?

JDS: Since it was going to be season 1, I wanted to challenge myself to have it in Europe… I was a big fan of [the Portuguese] explorer Vasco da Gama. He was a 17th century explorer who “discovered” India and many other places around the world. I was very fascinated by him. He was exploring and finding places, and I was also traveling and learning about different cultures. In 2018, I got a chance to go to Portugal, attending a tourism festival, and was fascinated by the history. I thought about doing a 15 to 20-minute short piece on Portugal, so I filmed a little bit at that time. And then again at the end of 2018, I went back for few days, hoping to do a 15 to 20-minute short documentary. Eventually, in May 2019 once I started filming, I decided to make it into a 6-part series. My friend, Carlos [Sargedas], who’s also the cinematographer and an executive producer on the show, had resources that we could reach out to. Suddenly after filming, everybody said, “We want to share our story.” When I was trying to find stories, I didn’t want something that’s already out there. I wanted something very unique, that could be enlightening, at least for the South Asian audience. I grew up in South Asia, so the vision of Europe was different for me until I came to the U.S. or went to Europe. If you think about Europe — say Paris, France — you think about the Eiffel Tower but not necessarily the farmers who are picking grapes to make wine. So, I wanted to bring those stories for [South Asian] audiences as well, so they could connect and say, “We are the same.” That’s what I wanted to show, and also learn along the way myself.

Deadline: There are some beautifully filmed scenes capturing the essence of the different parts of Portugal. What was your process of preparation and then ultimately going out and filming the episodes?

'On a Quest: with Jaswant' — ‘On a Quest: with Jaswant’

JDS: I wanted to go into the [Portuguese] people’s life and explore them. So, I was picking unique stories along the way and planning the shoot according to that. The main problem I faced was night filming in the Atlantic Ocean for “The Night Fishing” episode. No matter how much you prepare with your gear, the cold weather is not your friend. I’ve had cameras break down on us – thank God we had multiple – so we managed to do it. We had to go through many processes of getting licensed, and also the fishing group had to agree to take us along. So, there were a lot of things at play. I’m not a good swimmer, I have never swum in an ocean or jumped into an ocean to find the dolphins. So, I had to learn how to swim in an ocean. I have been fascinated by dolphins and I wanted to see them up close and film it all. I had a vision for the story, to be presented in a certain way. The first time we went, it was gloomy weather, so I could not really get great shots. I had to go back another time, another year, trying to find some money from somewhere, and go with better gear, better underwater protection.

We hired people who knew local people, and who knew where to go in a particular area so we could be lucky to film dolphins. The team that I had there were very enthusiastic, loving, and kindhearted people. They made it happen. Then the pandemic happened, and halted some of the exterior shots I was filming at the time. I used that time to do the post-production of the episodes already filmed. As soon as the travel ban was lifted in June 2021, I went back to continue filming and added two more weeks of reshooting the exteriors. That’s why you see beautiful drone shots of castles and one of the most crowded cities, Lisbon, with no one walking in the frame due to the lockdowns.

Deadline: You don many hats including being the creator, host, editor, director and cinematographer. As an independent documentary filmmaker, what was uniquely challenging for you to mount the series?

JDS: The long periods of filming was really challenging. The [Portuguese] language was a big challenge too for me to transcribe… A lot of interviews were taken but we only used the interviews to transcribe them for the narration. There are no talking heads. So, post-production was the most challenging. It took me about two years to edit, and if budget had allowed, this project would’ve been done sooner. A lot of it has been like – work a little bit, gather some money, or get some friends and family to support you, and then go back and do it [filming]. It was private funding at a very minimum. You have to risk your money to do it, because otherwise nobody is going to do it for you. As a host, as a producer, I wanted to tell this story, no matter how hard or difficult it became. And in the hopes to create more – to show people that I have done this, and if resource and collaboration is given to me, I could do an even better job. I didn’t want it to compromise on the quality. That’s why it took longer and took more to do.

Deadline: You have previously won an Emmy for your cultural series Festivals for the episode “Festival of Saraswati Puja” in the Outstanding Documentary – Religion category. What does it mean to you to be considered for the Emmys this time around?

JDS: My first Emmy win, the series Festivals is a five-part series on Nepal and the episode “Festival of Saraswati Puja” gave me my first Emmy at the Pacific Southwest Emmy Awards, making me the first Emmy winner of Nepal, which is a pride by itself. I am now going for the Primetime Emmy Awards, so the competition is even more fierce. The people that I’ve looked up to every day and have learned from, such as Morgan Freeman and Oprah Winfrey, are on the same ballot. It’s stepping up the challenge, I would say. Leaving my country, Nepal, and going to Mumbai, India and working there for a few years, then for the last 13 years in Los Angeles pursuing and fulfilling the childhood dream that I had, is a lot to go through and take on. I love challenges, so it’s great.

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