Jeff Goldblum: Ready?

[Clears throat] Erik Ewers: OK.

We're rolling.

Jeff Goldblum, as Thoreau: 1841.

I want to go soon, and live away by the pond... Chris Ewers: Erik and I wanted to make a film that allows the viewers to experience life in the 19th century as Henry David Thoreau experienced it.

Erik Ewers: It takes a village to make a film, but it also--as we learned-- takes a village to make a village.

Our producer Cauley Powell and a team of prop experts went to different historic places, like Sturbridge Village, and the replica cabin at Walden Pond, to recreate history itself.

Chris Ewers: There was very little photographic archival material from Thoreau's time, so we did the best that we could and tried to bring his time alive.

George Clooney narrating: Douglass' impassioned and inspiring speeches would make him one of the country's most renowned abolitionists.

Erik Ewers: As a director and an editor, one of the most important things for me is to make sure that our viewers always feel like they're in a place.

And we create that place.

That's true relatability.

Chris Ewers: As the cinematographer, it was important to me to be able to look at Walden Pond and the woods in Concord and the surrounding areas through Henry's lens.

Over the course of five years-- through all seasons-- we got to experience these places much in the same way that Thoreau did.

Erik Ewers: Not the way we typically do today.

We just kind of walk through.

We had to really explore and dive deep to find the gems, the true beauty of that place.

And like Thoreau, we discovered we can take that with us anywhere.

[Birds and insects calling, oars splashing]