Guest Bloggers: Denis Belliveau and Francis O’Donnell, Producers and Directors, In the Footsteps of Marco Polo

It was the best-documented journey of its time, inspiring the imaginations and ambitions of countless adventurers, including Christopher Columbus. Now we, too, can follow In the Footsteps of Marco Polo, with guides as vividly exciting and engaging as Marco himself. With both their film and this book, Denis and Francis have recreated what Joseph Campbell would have applauded as “The Hero’s Journey.” Come take it yourself—and you’ll never turn back.
-Bill Moyers

In 1988, when we first watched “The Power of Myth,” Bill Moyers’ landmark series of interviews with Joseph Campbell on Thirteen, we came away knowing one thing: that we didn’t know as much as we thought we did.

So we ordered the VHS tape and book and resolved to decipher and internalize the lessons within. In many ways it gave us the courage to dream and “follow our bliss,” in spite of the many nay-sayers and myriad obstacles in our path.

When we set out to entirely retrace the route of Marco Polo we would quote passages of the program to each other to get us through rough patches. “The labyrinth is thoroughly known …”

Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that our film would premiere on Thirteen, and to have Bill Moyers write such a kind and generous review is humbling, to say the least.

Belliveau and O’Donnell in the Wakhan Corridor,
between Afghanistan and China

As native New Yorkers, we grew up with this famous television station as our only real source of intellectual programming, wonderful documentaries. Shows like Masterpiece Theater and Great Performances fired our imaginations about history and art and inspired us to learn more about the world.

We feel we’ve come full circle, home to where it all started. If our story inspires just one person to venture out and follow their dreams, then we truly would have “returned with the boon.”

In the Footsteps of Marco Polo, which chronicles Belliveau and O’Donnell’s attempt to retrace Marco Polo’s entire 25,000-mile, land-and-sea route from Venice to China and back, airs on WLIW21 Sunday, November 16 at 9:00 pm and on Thirteen Wednesday, December 10 at 8:00 pm.