Art for Social Change

Documentary  •  Television  •  Film  •   Podcasts  •  Stories

At Maitri River Productions, we produce art that illuminates, educates, models and influences positive social change.

 

Abundant

In Pre-Production. Intertwining leading activists’ commentary, stories of living kidney donors and kidney patients, and an intuitive look at what leads a person to donate a kidney to a stranger, Abundant asks the question, “Do we have what it takes to become abundant toward living kidney donation?” Learn more.

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Donor Diaries

Available Now. Abundant producer and noted living kidney donor activist Laurie Lee brings you an interesting insider’s look at the world of living kidney donation in the new kidney donor advocacy podcast series, Donor Diaries.  A great resource for kidney patients and their possible kidney donors.  Learn More
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CrowdSource for Life

In Production. This unique first-person narrative event explores the true stories of our most selfless givers: living kidney.  In a live staged event, a multi-cultural cast of seventeen living kidney donors tell their kidney donoration stories in an up-close, personal TED-style format.  Learn More
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Belonging

In Development. Modern society itemizes people.  As technological evolution separates us, we fight a growing sense of isolation in search of community.  Our culture changes rapidly, but the basic need for human connection remains.  Guided by flow yoga, Belonging explores our drives to connect and what it means to belong. Learn More
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Bomb Town

In Development. South Dallas’ Black community has survived marginalization by redlining, economic segregation, government policies of slum clearance and isolation by elevated highway construction.  It’s story is central to Bomb Town’s examination of the origins and normalization of institutional racism in the US. Learn More
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Nude/Naked

In Development. Content is king, but editors have the power.  Nude/Naked explores how and why that power is used and how it affects our culture. From finding the unclothed human figure objectionable in the art world to what we teach children about shame, Nude/Naked digs into the motivations for omission and censorship. Learn More
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Featured Project

CrowdSource for Life

“I knew, in that moment, that I would give my kidney to a stranger.  It’s as if I’d been struck by lightning.”  That’s how National Kidney Donation Organization founder Ned Brooks described the first steps on his journey to becoming a non-directed kidney donor in his 2017 TEDxNatick talk.  A moment of clarity.  A sudden profound realization.  A lightning strike!

 

Ned Brooks isn’t alone in this feeling or that language.  Most non-directed kidney donors describe their moment of realization almost exactly the same way.   “A lightning strike” is a common way to describe the decision to become one of the rarest outliers in our culture, the extreme altruist who gives a kidney to a complete stranger. But CrowdSource for Life shows that it’s much more than that.

Presented in conjunction with the National Kidney Donation Organization, Maitri River Productions is staging a unique TED-style storytelling show for an in-depth, first-hand exploration of what causes that “lightning strike” moment and what happens afterward. 

Our exhaustive national casting search in 2020 has brought together a group of 17 living kidney donors to tell 16 amazing stories about giving the most profound gift possible.  Our cast includes 16 non-directed kidney donors and two double donors who have also made living liver donations.  Multi-cultural and multi-generational, the CrowdSource for Life cast speaks to all layers of our society in their own voices about the experience of giving life through living kidney donation.

CrowdSource For Life: Storytellers will be staged in a large theatrical venue and recorded for television.  Recorded with six (6) cameras for television and use in our docuseries Abundant, this event will be the first-ever mainstream audience program focused exclusively on the stories of non-directed kidney donors.

Are you ready to tell your story?

We chose 17 stories for CrowdSource for Life.  Are you next?  

We’ve put first person storytelling at the heart of our kidney donation media projects.  It’s real, it’s personal and it’s inspiring.  We are continually seeking stories for Abundant, Donor Diaries and future CrowdSource for Life shows that tell the stories related to living organ donation.  If you are a living kidney or liver donor, a non-directed organ donor, a kidney patient or a kidney transplant recipient, we want to hear from you.  Please find out how to send your story to us at the Tell Us Your Story button.

Maitri River Productions

We’re a unique production company entirely focused on the artist’s ability to inspire, provoke and illuminate social change. 

The Maitri River Method

•  Develops of a production deliberately
•  Maintains focus on the production’s purpose
•  Empowers the artist(s) with creative control
•  Builds a narrative and brand for a production
•  Infuses a production with passion and focus
•  Follows the Maitri River Productions mission
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It Starts with a Spark

Our nine-step production process begins instinctively with the Spark Stage.  Got an idea?  Let’s hear it.
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We Work in All Mediums

In our development process, we determine which medium is best for making a lasting impact on the audience.
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Production Team

We assemble mighty creative and technical teams specifically for each unique production.
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Funding Options

The funding method for each production enables the artist’s creative freedom.
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Jump In! Let’s See Where the River Takes You.