The project was shot at the Annamalai Farms in Pollachi, in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu in Southern India.
The documentary involved host Suneel Gupta and Sana Kadri the owner of Diaspora, USA, visiting the farm and interacting with the farmers from whom she sources cacao, and nutmeg mace for her brand.
The crops, mainly cacao and nutmeg are holistically intercropped and used by the world’s best chocolatiers and Michelin-starred chefs.
The location was 160 km from Coimbatore in southern India, remote and challenging with no hotels or habitation nearby.
Every morning, 47 crew members traveled to the location.
The US crew from Nonfiction, LA included 4 technicians, host Suneel Gupta, and subject Sana Kadri. The rest of the crew and technicians, including the 2nd Camera Operator, Focus Puller, Drone pilot, Ronin operator, Sound Engineer, Data Wrangler, Makeup and Hair, Gaffer, etc.were from Mumbai, a 2-hour flight away from Mumbai.We shot with 2 Arri Alexa Mini cameras with Cooke high-speed lenses.
The project was wrapped in 3 shoot days, including hiring local talent, production runners, caterers, transport, lodging, and boarding for 47 people.
We obtained permission from the local authorities including the municipality and police and concluded the project on schedule.
