The series "Superskilled with Eva zu Beck" is about reconnecting with the powerful potential hardwired into the human DNA and recognizing that people are capable of incredible things. This series was created to showcase the incredible skills that communities around the globe practice and nurture while also paying homage to their heritage and traditions. We wanted to inspire others live healthier, happier, and wilder lives. Eva also wanted to show the world that women can thrive in male dominated fields and choose to live an adventurous free life.
Before pitching her show to National Geographic in April 2024, Eva zu Beck spent many hours refining the core themes and pulling together a team she trusted to handle the physical, logical, and creative challenges of working in wild, remote places.
Preproduction took months and the team reached out to local communities early, making sure they were capturing each story ethically. They made sure each community felt comfortable sharing their skills, and then spent about six weeks filming across four remote regions, without electricity or running water. The crew was small with just three or four people with minimal gear so they could stay flexible and capture real moments.
Throughout the filming process, Eva and her team faced many logistical challenges. In communities where indigenous languages are spoken only by a few hundred individuals, every conversation required multiple layers of translation. Eva and the crew faced extreme humidity, injuries, illness, and had to carefully plan their days before their batteries ran out as there was no way to recharge.
During post production Eva and the National Geographic team spent months digging through footage, carefully shaping every shot and sound bite to bring out the heart of each place. Some of the languages we recorded are only spoken by a few hundred people and a single English translator, so getting accurate translations took a ton of care.
"Superskilled" exceeded expectations and was a truly special show with its own voice , energy and a deeper purpose -—one that goes beyond just travel.Through meeting and learning from incredible people around the world, the show reminds us that these skills, this knowledge, aren’t separate from us: that somewhere inside us, we carry that same potential too. The viewer response was incredible and over a million people tuned in to watch her episodes. This series also showed that so many women are capable of leaning into the spaces that are typically more populated with men. Eva is paving the way for more women to host their own exploration adventure shows.
