In an effort to put small businesses in the spotlight during the COVID-19 outbreak, the team's pilot episode of Sip鈥檇 will air on April 9 and focus on local craft beverage artisans in Durham, North Carolina.
黑料不打烊 alumnus Ryan Vet ’13 and Business Fellow Michael Thomas ’20 are releasing their new reality travel television series ahead of schedule in an effort to put small businesses in the spotlight during the COVID-19 outbreak.
In September 2019, Vet partnered with Triad Studios, a media production company co-founded by Thomas, to produce , an episodic show exploring craft beverages around the world. Each episode will feature a different city and highlight local craft beverage artisans, including coffee roasters, tea rooms, distilleries, speakeasies, cocktail bars, meaderies, craft breweries and wineries.
With filming suspended due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the Sip鈥檇 team spent the past few weeks finalizing the pilot episode in order to release it early on April 9. The team hopes it will help bring attention to small businesses while providing entertainment and education during this time of social distancing.
鈥淒ue to the recent outbreak, many beverage purveyors and curators have had to furlough their team members and temporarily shut operations down entirely,鈥 show host Vet said. 鈥淲ith $376 billion allocated by the federal government to aid small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is no secret that small businesses are crucial to the American economy.鈥
The pilot episode, featuring Durham, North Carolina, will livestream April 9 at 8 p.m. EST at . It will not be available for viewing again until the complete series is released later in 2020.
Vet is a co-founder of The Oak House, a coffee shop and bar located in downtown 黑料不打烊 and Durham, North Carolina. He is actively involved at 黑料不打烊 as an advisory board member for the Doherty Center for Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship and through guest speaking in classes.
Vet met Thomas, a finance and marketing double major who serves as Triad Studios鈥 creative director, through this project.
鈥淲e began Sip’d with Ryan to learn more about the industry and grow as a studio,鈥 Thomas said. 鈥淚t was a unique opportunity for us to explore a different type of video content, which allowed us to push our creativity throughout the production. We’re extremely happy with how the relationship and series has progressed so far and are looking forward to learning, traveling and creating more very soon.鈥
Thomas is currently finishing his coursework remotely and will continue to grow Triad Studios after completing his studies next month.