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Cheyney's Bio
 After graduating with a philosophy degree from UC Santa Cruz in 1995, I set out on the course that would shape my life for over a decade and counting. A fellow classmate had gone to work in Zion National Park several months earlier, and I heeded his advice to follow him. The 6 months I lived and worked there in the most beautiful high desert on Earth showed me just how awe inspiring this planet can be. I decided then that I would do all that I could to see as much of the world and its beauty as possible.
Not being independently wealthy I had to devise a plan to pay off my student loans. A friend I met at Burning Man told me about the prospect of teaching English in Korea and sent me the info she had. A few months later I received a call about a job there and was on a plane. The next year served as the springboard for what would become several years of world travel. By saving diligently, I was able to pay off my debts and save enough cash for several months of travel after a year of hard work.
The lifestyles of the people I met in Thailand and Indonesia were so different from anything I had witnessed anywhere in North America that I was literally moved to tears. The reality of life in the developing world cannot be fully comprehended via means other than seeing it firsthand. The simple life is hard, but the people are so genuinely happy and kind. The brief months there have since become dozens more in numerous other countries as I never seem to tire of the joy of living amidst the poorer, yet seemingly more joyful peoples of the world.
Upon returning home, I pledged to return overseas again as soon as possible. Yet I found the creature comforts of home very alluring. I pursued a career as a professional athlete after winning an amateur world championship in the sport of disc golf. Several years playing pro later, I've learned that no one gets rich playing the sport, and even sustaining a living is very tough. Eventually I was able to set aside these dreams and save up enough money to venture abroad again.
For many years I had read about the damming of the Yangtze River in China and yearned to see the doomed river valley in its waning days. Just 2 weeks before the completion of the dam I was able to take the cruise downstream to witness the natural and architectural wonders that are now under several hundred feet of water. A year later I would return to China and sneak into Tibet just a few months before the completion of the rail link that many have deemed "Tibet's Death Knell".
On this trip in 2004-05, I spent a solid 13 months backpacking around the Himalaya, India, China, Pakistan and more. As always, I would send stories of my adventures home to close friends and family. One such friend of many years was a producer in LA named Herb Goss. He suggested getting video at some point of my trip that could be used to create his vision of a television project based on my writing. Not until the last few weeks of this long trip did I acquiesce due in large part to the prodding of another friend. This footage gathered over only a few days of shooting in India provided enough fodder for the pitch that now lives immortally under the moniker "Destination Unknown" and can be seen yet today online until its grainy video is finally archived in the green room in the sky where it belongs.
Yet this incarnation of Herb's vision was enough to attract other producers and entertainment moguls. The partnership became a threesome when Marc Johnson came aboard with our new HD video gear. He even volunteered to serve as the cameraman for the inaugural taping which we all agreed to do in Laos during the annual water festival which marks the Buddhist New Year. Marc was also integral in getting Philippe LeClerc involved in the shooting that took place after Marc returned home. The adventures Phil helped me shoot in Sumatra were so compelling that we realized we were looking at something much greater than the 30-minute TV pilot which had been our initial goal. Herb suggested making it into a movie. One day the term "docu-comedy" popped into my head and the new vision for our project has worn that label ever since.
My hopes for this project have always been the same from the beginning.
-To inspire others to travel and learn about the true nature of the world and the majority of its people.
-To educate the wealthy of the world as to why they should "live simply so that others may simply live".
-To interact with the locals in a way that brings positive change in their lives and lessens their resentment towards the rich which can breed violence and terrorism.
And of course
-To continue to see firsthand the waning natural and cultural beauty of the Earth as an ever-growing population continues to consume and inhabit its formerly hidden corners everywhere.
My wish for anyone who reads this or watches our docu-comedy is to enjoy our work and laugh a bit more today. And then think about what you can do to bring more laughter and joy to those in your life, as well as the lives of those everywhere including the children of the future.
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