To say that Jeff Ragovin is a little bit obsessed with all-things coastal here on the East End is like saying water is wet. The avid fisherman and co-founder of South Fork Sea Farmers, the not-for-profit working in conjunction with East Hampton Town Shellfish Hatchery to help save our local aquaculture through its mission to create staunch stewards of the sea in our own community, has found a new way to bring the beauty and health of our local aquaculture to even more eyes: through film.
With the first season of his series Bounty Uncharted, the sea-life advocate is using visual storytelling to connect viewers with both the open sea and the treasures from it that land on the table.
“Bounty Uncharted was born from a simple belief: behind every breakthrough is a story worth telling. Throughout my career, I’ve had a front-row seat to how ideas take shape, how people push through uncertainty, and how true innovation is almost always forged in moments of discomfort and bravery,” says Ragovin. “This series is my opportunity to document those moments, not as headlines, but as human experiences.”
So far, Ragovin has released five episodes in the series, each one about 15 minutes long and featuring a different, fascinating guest who he brings out to sea on his fishing boat in order to make meaningful connections for them (and us) to the East End’s seaside culture. He’s gone bluefin tuna fishing with chef Michael Chernow, first-time angling with justice advocate Alphonso James, a Black Sea bass expedition with actress Anastasia Ganias and hunting for shark with Olympic snowboarder and race car driver AJ Muss.
If it’s a formula that sounds a little familiar, he’s certainly not the first to try this kind of cinematic set-up, taking viewers out into the waters of the world (cue Jacques Cousteau!). If you’re of a certain age and indie-film and music bent, you might even remember the odd-ball series, “Fishing With John,” in which cult musician John Lurie would take an equally off-beat artist out fishing (Tom Waits, Dennis Hopper, Willem Dafoe) in myriad places, from Jamaica (the country, not Queens) to the Gowanus Canal to Montauk, where Lurie and director Jim Jarmusch stayed at Kenny’s Tipperary Inn and rose in the dark to fish for sharks.
But for Ragovin, it’s more about connection than quirkiness — and he’s got the awards to prove it from international film and television festivals, like the Paris Film Awards, Florence Film Awards, Hollywood Gold Awards and the London Movie Awards.
The latest in the series entitled “Empire of the Atlantic” is a particularly fascinating view — quite literally — of Montauk’s waterways. In this episode, Ragovin and photographer and cinematographer Michael Cuomo explore the complex life seen above and below the ocean’s surface. Through Cuomo’s incredible drone photography, you view migrating fish, whales, sharks, dolphins, striped bass, bluefish, bunker at the arrival of spring and the patterns the erupt under this bird’s eye view. Cuomo’s filming is nothing less than a feast for the eyes; affording us the opportunity to see a side of water life that most of us can’t view standing on the shoreline.
There are three more episodes to come in this introduction to Ragovin’s vision for connecting landlubbers with the waters around us. Filming for Season 2 kicks off in June, with more salt-sprayed thoughtful fun to come.
“I’m driven by curiosity. I want to understand what makes a person chase something bigger than themselves, pursue a path no one else sees, or keep going when the outcome is unclear,” says Ragovin. “Bounty Uncharted is an exploration into that space, the space where risk, resilience, creativity, and purpose intersect.”
To see all current episodes of Bounty Uncharted, click here.
