Surviving Panama
12 days, one camera, 189,700 views.
- Survival documentary
- Panama
- 12 days
- One-person crew
The story
Four friends, a remote island off Panama, and a one-person crew. Jeremy Moore filmed the survival story while living it, then edited it into a 42-minute documentary.
It was released on YouTube with no ad spend, and the numbers below are its full lifetime analytics from YouTube Studio.
The results
- Views, all organic
- 189.7K
- Unique viewers
- 152.2K
- Hours watched, about 4 years of nonstop viewing
- 35.1K
- Average watch time per view
- 11:13
- Times YouTube showed it to viewers
- 2.5M
Source: YouTube Studio, lifetime analytics, 27 Apr 2025 – 19 Oct 2026.
The project
A self-funded film that found its audience on its own.
No brand, no budget for promotion and no crew beyond Jeremy. He carried the camera through 12 days on the island, captured the group’s attempt to survive, and cut the final film himself. YouTube’s recommendation engine did the rest: 92.6% of its 2.5 million impressions came from YouTube suggesting it to new viewers.
It was published on 27 April 2025. By day 173 it had 167,472 views, and it still brings in new views every day, 18 months later.
- Location
- Remote island, Panama
- Days in the field
- 12
- Crew
- 1 (filmed, survived, edited)
- Runtime
- 42 min 20 s
- Ad spend
- $0
- New subscribers from this film
- +3,700
Who watched
The core outdoor-gear buyer: men aged 18 to 44.
What this means for your brand
A film like this puts your gear in front of an audience that is overwhelmingly male, aged 18–44, mostly in English-speaking markets and watching on the biggest screen in the house, for 11 minutes at a time.
How people found it
How they engaged
- Engaged views
- 187,700
- Average view duration
- 11 min 13 s
- Average share of the film watched
- 26.5%
- Still watching at the 30-second mark
- 73%
- Likes vs. dislikes
- 97.2% likes
- Hours watched from recommendations
- 27,100
How it grew
- Views in the first 173 days
- 167K
- Of lifetime views came in the first six months
- 88%
- More views since then, with no promotion
- 22K
- New views 18 months after release
- Daily
The result
Unplug Bags signed on for the next expedition.
After the film, Unplug Bags came on as an official partner for our next survival trip. Their gear goes into the field with us and into the film.
- Gear used for real, where failure has consequences
- A full documentary plus cutdowns, verticals and stills
- FAA Part 107 drone pilot, scuba-certified crew
- Documentaries shot in Egypt, Costa Rica, Panama, Zambia, India and Canada
Watch the film
Want your gear in the next one? Let’s talk.
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