For Jeff Ragovin, life on the East End is about the water, the food it provides, and the community that surrounds it.
That version of the East End is at the heart of “Bounty Uncharted,” the unscripted series Jeff started after stepping away from a career in tech.
“How do I showcase who we are as a community to the world?” Jeff reflected on the question he asked himself when beginning this project.
Jeff has lived on the East End full-time for nearly 13 years. Growing up on 27th Street in Manhattan, he went on to build technology companies. About two and a half years ago, he sold his most recent company and fully immersed himself in East End life.
“I was like, I need to take a break — I’ve been doing this for 26 years, and I want to do something different,” he said, noting that now he is “doing something that I really want to do that I love.”
For years, he had envisioned a project like this — one that would combine his interests in food, fishing, storytelling, and the East End.
“I’ve wanted to do something like this for probably about a decade, where it’s kind of like, Nat Geo meets ‘Wicked Tuna’ meets the Food Network, but all showcasing the bounty of the East End.”
And so he built it.
“I kind of built the plane as I was flying it,” he said.
The first season was an experiment: six episodes, each lasting 10 to 15 minutes, featuring a variety of guests with Jeff as the host. Some were from the local community, while others came from afar — each had an interesting story. The unifying theme was the East End.
“Bounty Uncharted” brings its guests onto the water, into kitchens, and around the community. One episode featured restaurateur and fitness entrepreneur Michael Chernow, who had never caught a tuna before being taken offshore. Another featured Southampton-based chef and creator Anastasia Ganiás of Fancy Peasant, who has had a recurring presence in the series.
This season has expanded the concept. Guests have included the likes of Daphne Oz and Chef Dennis Prescott, who each joined the crew on fishing trips. Other episodes have featured Major League Soccer commissioner Don Garber and followed the Montauk Canyon Challenge, where Anastasia caught her first tuna.
There is no guarantee of what will happen once the cameras roll.
“It’s unscripted — it’s just kind of amazing,” he said. “We don’t know what’s gonna happen. We don’t know what we’re gonna catch.”
“There is that element of surprise,” Jeff continued. “Which is really fun. Which makes the show even better.”
That authenticity and uncertainty extend to the people appearing on camera. Fish may not always cooperate. And the crew and guests must adapt. Sometimes the most memorable moments are the ones nobody planned.
“It’s 100% authentic, and it’s just showcasing real life out here,” he said. “So that’s kind of the core of the show.”
The production itself has also evolved. This season, Jeff said, the series has taken on a more cinematic quality, combining traditional production footage with aerial cinematography from Montauk Air. It is particularly striking when the subject is marine life.
“When you’ve got the drone up, you’re seeing a whale do like 3, 4, 5, 6 lunges in the air and then flapping their fins. Like, that’s insane.”
That aerial perspective is central to “Empire of the Atlantic,” a “Bounty Uncharted” short film selected for the Hamptons International Film Festival screening on October 7 and 9. The film focuses on footage captured from above the ocean, following whales, sharks, and other marine life offshore.
“I don’t think it’s actually sunk in yet that we were selected,” Jeff said. “Because it’s kind of a big deal.”
For Jeff, however, the film is about more than spectacular images. It also introduces viewers to Michael A. Cuomo, the drone operator and one of the creative forces behind the series.
“I want people to know who Mike is,” he said. “I’m narrating it, but it’s really about Mike’s skillset with the drone and a little more about who he is.”
The project also connects to another major part of Jeff’s life: conservation work through South Fork Sea Farmers, where he serves as board president. The organization supports oyster farming, reef restoration, and scholarships for local students. A portion of the proceeds from “Bounty Uncharted” goes to the nonprofit.
The series has also begun expanding beyond the East End. A recent episode took the production to Washington state for a salmon-fishing adventure, marking the show’s first foray outside the Hamptons.
But the East End remains the show’s base, documenting food, fishing, and compelling personalities to tell the story of the place Jeff and so many others love and call home.
