Dan Goldberg's Video for Green-O Resort Immerses You in an Intimate Culinary, Architectural and Sensory Experience.
Long lasting relationships are paramount in our industry. Dan Goldberg's Vision Through Gathering tells the story of Dan and shares his belief that there is always room for one more at the table. He has worked with Paws Up Resort for 20 years and was excited to hear of a new couples-only resort called The Green O. When asked to describe the resort in a short phrase, Dan said “it is intimate, cultivates a sense of adventure, and a full sensory experience.” His deep relationship with the resort allowed him to understand why it is so special. Channeling that, he knew the only way to properly celebrate the resort and its world class chefs, was to create an immersive video experience.
Executive Chef Brandon Cunningham has the challenging task to create a new menu for each day of the week, always keeping it interesting for the guests while pulling inspiration from the surrounding Montana environment. As a former sous chef himself, Dan loves to pour his experience into his projects, so this project was a true meeting of the minds.
While this is a commercial campaign, the final video seems more like a documentary. Taking you beyond the kitchen of the Green O and into the minds of head Chef Brandon and Pastry Chef Crystal Swenson. Dan’s work will have you immediately searching The Green O website for the next availability to escape into its secluded world of treehouses, fine dining and adventure.
What was a memorable moment on this project?
I wanted to find a way to show the main dining area, the Social Haus, inside and out. We came up with the idea to rig a cable camera up in a tree, stretched through the glass doors of the building and then tied to a tree on the other side. We wanted to do this in the blue hour of dawn, so we had to work fast. Of course, when you want to move quickly, something typically gets in the way of that. Many times the camera would just stop in the middle of the building and get jammed on the cable. With some ingenuity and engineering we were able to get it to work, and I am so proud of that shot because of how much of a challenge it was.
What did you learn on this project?
I learned that cowboys are apprehensive of drones. I guess it would be more accurate to say that their horses don’t like drones and they’re just the horse’s proxy, but the day the drone came out, both attitudes changed. Horses started bucking and we were in a field with a bunch of bison so it just wasn’t going to work. I pivoted and ended up driving an SUV next to them instead of using the drone. I think the footage is just as cool, but took some quick thinking.
What do you want others to know about you and your work when seeing this?
How much I love shooting more food and travel stories like this. Short documentaries like this allow me to intertwine cultural stories with food photography. I view my work as my way to show how I see the world and I think this type of project is right in my wheelhouse because of that.
Follow Dan on Instagram for more unpretentious narratives with food and gathering at the center.