Steel River Productions develops, creates and consults on the production of educationally rich media for kids and young adults.
Since 1989, Steel River Productions has shaped high quality programming for youth from preschoolers to teens to young adults, both here in the US and abroad, including Iraq, South Sudan and the UAE. We specialize in curriculum-based programming that entertains and engages viewers in thoughtful, imaginative and stimulating ways. Digital Storytelling – training youth to create and produce their own purposeful and meaningful stories – is a new and vital skillset that Steel River has delivered domestically and internationally. In all of our work, our goal is to build the capacity of the local team to develop and produce media that will impact its audience in positive ways.
Digital Storytelling Course Creation, US – Steel River has been hired by National Geographic to develop and write their first Digital Storytelling courses for teachers and youth.
Radio Drama Impact — Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya – Steel River Productions is partnering with Blue Butterfly Collaborative to design and implement an intervention with South Sudanese citizens living in the Kakuma Refugee Camp. Based on the radio soap opera, Sawa Shabab, which Steel River helped create and produce in collaboration with PeaceTech Lab and Juba-based, Amalna, this intervention is designed to evaluate the impact of the series with over 200 listening group participants.
Digital Storytelling Workshops — Morocco – Steel River recently work with Family Health International (FHI) to develop a week-long digital storytelling workshop designed to help Tangier's based NGOs with preventing violent extremism.
Radio Production — Somalia – Steel River has just completed working with PeaceTech Lab to complete twenty episodes of Hirkka Nabadda, a radio soap opera targeting youth in Somalia. The curriculum guiding this production targets issues around gender equity, cultural identity and life skills, with the overall goal of contributing to the evolution of a peaceful and stable Somalia.
Television Production — UAE – Steel River recently completed work on the third season of Iftah Ya Simsim, the Gulf Countries' version of Sesame Street. Working with Bidaya Media out of Abu Dhabi, and in collaboration with partners at Sesame Workshop in NYC, Steel River completed four years of work with the team, helping to producing three full seasons. The show is currently out of production.
Digital Storytelling Creation – Steel River Productions' non-profit spin-off, Meridian Stories, is about to enter its tenth year of "preparing students for the 21st century workplace by providing opportunities to collaborate, create, problem solve and lead in the development and production of meaningful digital narratives that address curricular goals." For more information, go to www.meridianstories.com.