Addison O'Dea facts for kids

Addison O'Dea (born June 15, 1979) is an American filmmaker and writer. He is known for his work in anthropology, which is the study of human societies and cultures. His films and writings have been shared by famous organizations like National Geographic and Discovery.

Early Life and School

Hugh Addison White O'Dea was born on June 15, 1979, in New York Hospital. His parents were Sara and Hugh Patrick O'Dea Jr. He has two younger brothers. His family lived in New York City but traveled a lot around the world. They traveled for both fun and work.

Addison went to boarding school at Indian Mountain School in Connecticut. He also attended the Dwight School in Manhattan. He earned a science degree from New York University.

Exploring and Filmmaking

Addison O'Dea used to be an editor for National Geographic Traveler magazine. He has written and directed many virtual reality documentary films. These films explore interesting topics about different cultures.

For example, he made films about the origins of voodoo in Togo and Benin. He also filmed ancient Quranic libraries in the Sahara desert.

Exciting Film Projects

As of 2019, Addison was working on an action film set in the Sahara. This movie was written and directed by Eugene Jarecki. The main character in the film is a Tuareg person. The working title for this project was "Tuareg Project."

In 2021, it was announced that Addison was directing a movie called Unlikely Heroes. This film was funded by Fifth Season. He also worked as an Executive Producer for Eugene Jarecki's film, The Six Billion Dollar Man. This movie premiered at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. It won an award called the L'Œil d'or jury prize for best documentary.

Discovery TRVLR Series

One of Addison's biggest projects was writing and directing the "Discovery TRVLR" series. This series had 36 episodes and was made for Discovery, Inc. and Google. They filmed the series on all seven continents.

The show focused on different people in each place. These people were called "Guru, Renegade, Entertainer or Explorer." They showed viewers their unique traditions, rituals, and challenging journeys. At the time, "Discovery TRVLR" was Discovery's largest virtual reality project ever.

Addison designed the series to visit very remote places. He wanted to show how people are similar, no matter where they live. The idea was to highlight the unique ways people live in different cultures. For example, what it means to "defy convention" in Communist Vietnam is very different from what it means in Catholic Mexico.

Addison shared his thoughts about the show in an interview with Filmmaker:

A main goal of TRVLR is to get access to communities that are usually closed off to visitors. Travel shows are popular, so we had to work extra hard to find these communities. We also had to earn their trust. This meant filming in places that needed careful planning for safety.

Personal Life

In September 2019, news reports said that Addison O'Dea was engaged to actress Minnie Driver.