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Donald Griswold has lived in the Dallas, Texas area most of his life. ABUNDANT is his first documentary feature film, completing a life-long dream of being a filmmaker.
“I’ve had the full independent filmmaker experience with ABUNDANT,” he says, “doing it all, from crowdfunding the entire production to pivoting through the business of filmmaking to recruiting an incredibly talented team of creatives. Filmmaking is undoubtedly, the most collaborative, emotional and challenging creative work I can imagine. And now seeing the reactions ABUNDANT gets… I know we’ve shared the experience of this world of extreme altruism accurately with the audience. It‘s so gratifying to know that.”
Donald graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Arts in Radio, Television and Film, specializing in film writing. Donald has written and directed narrative, comedic and business scripts for video and audio. Donald’s experience includes writing, directing, and producing a wide range of video productions ranging from full-length DVD concepts to television commercials. He also has ghost written a memoir for a notable figure in the field of engineering.
Storytelling has always had great meaning to Donald. “At the heart, I am a writer first. And I’ve spent a lifetime learning the subtleties of telling a layered story. In fiction, I love tools like implication and context to allow the audience to play a part in understanding a story for themselves. But with filmmaking… Wow! there are so many ways to evoke emotion and connection with the audience. There are so many layers you can touch and create to effect that immersion and I enjoyed working in all of them! These are all reasons why I had to base my first feature film in the actual world of storytelling.”
Donald also writes works of fiction and non-fiction, and he published his first novel, Dying Light in 2017. In 2018, Donald opened Maitri River Productions, a non-fiction media production business to make media that inspires social change. ABUNDANT is the first production of Maitri River Productions.
As a storyteller, Donald has appeared in Oral Fixation, the critically acclaimed Dallas-based storytelling show. In 2015, his story for the show Push the Envelope was voted by the public as Best in Show, and he performed the story in the annual Best of Season show. Donald has also produced Word of Mouth, a live storytelling series that hosted shows in Dallas and Atlanta.
Donald is a long-time supporter of the arts in Dallas. He supports museums, local artists, and live performance, especially ShakespeareDallas.
For Press Inquires, please contact us at info@maitririverproductions.com