AVDP
Introduction
Most people haven't had an unscripted conversation in weeks. Not because they don't want one. Because the contexts that produce them have been replaced by contexts that reward performance. Even a smartphone face-down on a table measurably reduces the quality of the conversation happening around it (Przybylski & Weinstein, 2012). A camera in the room usually makes it worse. AVDP is designed to do the opposite.
Film Therapeutics is the study of whether watching authentic human connection is itself measurably restorative. Not media as vague self-care, but specific formats, under specific conditions, producing specific changes in the viewer. The hypothesis: engineer the right environment and people will be genuinely open in ways they aren't in everyday settings. The research asks what happens on both sides. Whether guests leave the experience feeling different, recalling their past differently, seeing themselves in a new way. And whether a viewer watching that process undergoes the same shift.
The series is simultaneously a creative output and a research instrument. Every episode is an experiment. The format itself, a live-mixed ambient soundscape, no phones in frame, is the methodology.
The Team
Theodore Addo · Founder and Director
Theodore is the Founder and Director of A Very Distant Perspective. The format came out of years of experimenting with what makes content feel genuinely human, shaped by a research instinct that pushed him toward treating authenticity as something that could be designed and measured, not just hoped for. He has produced content as both an independent creator and brand manager for companies including Amazon.
Shadrack Annor · Producer
Shadrack is a Computer Science and Religious Studies student at Brown University. He is the producer of A Very Distant Perspective, responsible for the technical and creative execution of the series.
Chris Zou · Producer and Creative Collaborator
Chris is a Computer Science student at Brown University and founder of Fountainhead. He immediately understood the creative vision behind AVDP and offered to make shortform content around it. He assembled his own production team and produced the first shortform episode. After that, he offered to continue producing a shortform series, contributing directly to the length variety dimension of the research methodology.
Background Research
Methods
The format operates on multiple mechanisms simultaneously. The conversation methodology draws on research into task-positive and default mode network toggling: when someone is engaged in an activity, particularly one they are practiced in, the self-monitoring circuitry that produces performed responses quiets. AVDP structures episodes around that activity. The conversation emerges from within it rather than being the primary focus, producing disclosure qualitatively different from what a sit-down interview format elicits. The live-mixed ambient soundscape and the removal of phones reinforce this by reducing the environmental cues that trigger social performance.
Episodes to date have varied multiple dimensions in parallel: episode duration, capture methodology (single-take, asynchronous, multicam, b-roll integration), presentation format (how editing affects perceived authenticity), and language. Episodes have been produced in English and Mandarin Chinese with English subtitles, testing whether authentic connection crosses language and cultural barriers through format alone.
The measurement methodology is still being developed. One open question is whether isolating the ambient soundscape as a formal A/B variable is the right first study. If you have a background in affective computing, psychology, or conversation analysis and want to help shape the research design, reach out.
Research Collaborator
The measurement methodology is still being developed. We need input on research design from researchers in affective computing, psychology, or conversation analysis. IRB sponsorship through a university partner is also a need.
Get in touch →Results
The lab filmed Zay, a potter in the US, creating and describing his ceramic work. The episodes reached Mateo, a store owner in Canada. He saw Zay's work and wanted to carry it. The lab connected them directly.
Two people across countries who would never have met, connected through the environment.
AVDP doesn't just create content. It creates connections.
Watch Episode 2 →
Watch Episode 3 →
The next episode is with the Ghana national football team, coming to Rhode Island ahead of the World Cup. The lab has been given the opportunity to produce it. What makes it possible is the gear below. Fund a specific item and you are credited in the episode.
3× Osmo Pocket 3 ~$519 each
Multicam setup for the Ghana episode. Three cameras give simultaneous coverage across subjects, which is what a four-person conversation at production quality requires.
Support this →2× DJI Mic 3 ~$249 each
Wireless lavalier mics for a four-person setup. Clean audio separation is what allows the ambient soundscape to function as a research variable rather than background noise.
Support this →Harbinger LV7 Mixer ~$100
7-channel analog mixer with Bluetooth. The live-mixed ambient soundscape is the core independent variable in the research design. This is what produces it.
Support this →NEEWER Car Mount $89
Windshield-mounted camera rig for in-car capture. Extends the format into vehicle environments, adding a new context for recording conversation and expanding the range of settings the research can document.
Support this →Production Collaborator
Camera, audio, or editing. You know the format and can execute on it. We are building toward the Ghana episode and a shortform series.
Get in touch →Discussion
Film therapeutics is a novel research area. The claim is not that media is good for you in a vague sense. It is that watching authentic human connection is itself measurably restorative: the right format, under the right conditions, produces a specific change in the audience.
The multilingual dimension adds a cross-cultural question: does genuine emotional openness carry across language barriers through format alone? The Mandarin Chinese episode with English subtitles is the first test of this. The planned production with the Ghana national football team would extend the corpus to West African cultural context.
This is a research area being built in real time. If you have experience in documentary production, distribution, or media funding and want to be part of how this work reaches the world, reach out.
Film and Documentary Advisor
AVDP is heading toward a formal distribution strategy. The Ghana episode is the anchor. Experience in documentary production, media funding, or public health media is relevant here.
Get in touch →Lab Partner
If you want a deeper relationship with the lab and its work, not just this episode, this is a different conversation. Lab Partners have direct access to the team and stay involved as the work scales.
Get in touch →Network & Introductions
If you know a documentary funder, a distribution contact, or a researcher in affective science who should be aware of this work, a warm introduction or a share in the right room is worth as much as any direct contribution.
Get in touch →Support the Work
Every contribution funds the work directly. At $10 you get your name in the founding credits. At $100 you get a copy of the Year 1 guest zine. For deeper financial partnership, reach out to the team directly.
$10–$99 · Founding Credit
Your name in the founding credits on the AVDP project page and in the episode credits.
Contribute →$100–$999 · Year 1 Zine
Everything above, plus a softcover copy of the Year 1 guest zine: an editorial portrait of every guest from the first year of the series.
Contribute →Founding Partner
For deeper financial involvement in AVDP, reach out to the team directly. Early founding partnerships are available for those who want a seat at the table.
Get in touch →