MOTUS THEATER
Motus Theater is a Boulder, Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that creates original autobiographical theater, films, and podcasts addressing immigration, criminal justice, and gender identity issues, serving faith communities, law enforcement, schools, and civic organizations through partnership-driven performances and donations.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersBoulder, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What MOTUS THEATER does
Motus Theater is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit theater organization founded in 2011 and headquartered in Boulder, Colorado. Its mission is to create original theater that facilitates dialogue on critical social issues, with a portfolio centered on the UndocuAmerica/ImmigrantAmerica, JustUs, TRANSformative Stories, and What Love Requires projects. The organization's underlying methodology is a 17-24 week transformative storytelling workshop in which community leaders on the frontlines of social issues (undocumented immigrants, formerly incarcerated individuals, transgender and nonbinary people) craft artfully written autobiographical monologues. These monologues are then produced as live performances, films, and two companion podcasts: Shoebox Stories (where prominent Americans such as Yo-Yo Ma and Gloria Steinem read the monologues aloud) and Motus Monologues (where the story authors read their own work with musical responses). Additional distribution channels include a 12-mural public art installation in Denver and Boulder with QR codes linking to bilingual video stories, and a Motus Playback Improv program used for civic engagement.
The business model is hybrid philanthropy-plus-earned-revenue. As a 501(c)(3), Motus relies on charitable donations (including through Colorado Gives), foundation grants (Ford Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Art for Justice Fund, Emerson Collective, NEA, Colorado Arts Office), and ticket/event revenue. Earned revenue streams include event ticket sales starting at $15, tiered DVD and streaming licenses ($19.99 home-use up to $249.99 for organizations with 21+ staff), physical Shoebox Stories hosting toolkits ($53 home license), and speaking/keynote fees at conferences. The customer base spans faith organizations, law enforcement agencies, schools and universities, district attorney offices, civic organizations, and individual consumers. Distribution is primarily partnership-driven, with performances hosted by community organizations and 32 faith leaders across 11 states, plus self-serve e-commerce and podcast distribution.
MOTUS THEATER firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- MOTUS THEATER
- Legal name
- Motus Theater
- Website
- https://motustheater.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Motus Theater is a Boulder, Colorado-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that creates original autobiographical theater, films, and podcasts addressing immigration, criminal justice, and gender identity issues, serving faith communities, law enforcement, schools, and civic organizations through partnership-driven performances and donations.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
MOTUS THEATER industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Performing Arts Theater
- NAICS
- Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Other Performing Arts Companies (711190), Motion Picture and Video Industries (5121)
- SIC
- Services-Motion Picture & Video Tape Production (7812)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama) (MPAGABAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Improvisational Theatre (MPAGABAJ), Touring Theatre Productions (MPAGABAC), Community Theatre & Storytelling Festivals (MPAGAEAI)
Keywords
Where MOTUS THEATER is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Boulder
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
MOTUS THEATER business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Fundraising: As a 501c3 nonprofit, Motus Theater relies on charitable donations. The organization accepts contributions through Colorado Gives and direct donation channels.
- Film and DVD Sales: Sale of performance films and DVDs including 'Rocks Karma Arrows', 'Do You Know Who I Am?', and 'Law Enforcement Leaders Read DREAMer Stories' with various licensing tiers for home, educational, and organizational use.
- Event Ticket Sales: Tickets sold for live performances including test events, with pricing from $15 and various ticket tiers including reception packages.
- Shoebox Stories Hosting Toolkit Sales: Physical toolkit sales for community reading events featuring scripts, photos, instructions, and discussion questions. Includes home license and institutional license options.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Rocks Karma Arrows DVD/Home Use Streaming |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Do You Know Who I Am? Streaming |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Law Enforcement Leaders DVD |
| One time/ perpetual license | Pay-as-you-go | Shoebox Stories Hosting Toolkit |
| Transaction based/ take rate | Pay-as-you-go | Event Tickets |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels8 records
MOTUS THEATER product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Motus Theater creates original autobiographical theater performances, films, and podcasts featuring community leaders on the frontlines of social issues such as immigration, criminal justice, and gender identity. The organization uses a 17-24 week transformative storytelling workshop methodology to develop artfully crafted monologues, and distributes its content through live performances, national tours, institutional licensing, DVDs/streaming, podcasts, and community reading toolkits.
Product overview
Motus Theater operates a multi-platform portfolio centered on autobiographical storytelling theater performances, podcasts, and films that facilitate dialogue on critical social issues. The core offerings include the UndocuAmerica/ImmigrantAmerica Project featuring stories of undocumented immigrants with DACA, the JustUs Project sharing stories of formerly incarcerated individuals, TRANSformative Stories and What Love Requires highlighting transgender and nonbinary communities, and the Motus Monologues and Shoebox Stories companion podcasts. Additional products include Women of Resolution, SALSA Lotería, and multimedia performances like Rocks Karma Arrows and Do You Know Who I Am?. The theater also offers Motus Playback Improv for community storytelling events and a public Murals installation project. These offerings use original theater to build alliances across diverse community segments and inspire action towards justice.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Shoebox Stories Podcast: Story-holding podcast where prominent Americans stand in the shoes of Motus' monologists by reading aloud their stories
- Motus Monologues Podcast
- UndocuAmerica
- JustUs
- Women of Resolution
- TRANSformative Stories
- What Love Requires
- Rocks Karma Arrows
- ImmigrantAmerica
Products and services
- UndocuAmerica Project An autobiographical monologue project that interrupts dehumanizing portrayals of immigrants by elevating stories of people with DACA and encouraging thoughtful engagement on immigration challenges and the assets immigrants bring.
- JustUs Project A monologue project supporting community leaders impacted by carceral systems to share artfully crafted autobiographical stories exposing the devastating impact of the criminal legal system and inspiring action toward true justice.
- Motus Monologues Podcast An autobiographical storytelling podcast where Motus' undocumented and formerly incarcerated monologists read aloud their own autobiographical stories, followed by healing music from nationally renowned musicians.
- Shoebox Stories Podcast A story-holding podcast where prominent Americans stand in the shoes of Motus' monologists by reading aloud their stories, with each episode featuring honest reflection and healing music.
- Women of Resolution A multimedia performance project featuring stories of four Colorado women who sought sanctuary to prevent deportation and family separation, employing theater, music, and photojournalism.
- Rocks Karma Arrows A film of Motus Theater's multimedia contemporary theater piece exploring Boulder history through the lens of race and class, featuring historical figures like Chief Niwot and the Sand Creek Massacre story.
- Do You Know Who I Am? An award-winning film performance encouraging discussion on the challenges facing youth who are undocumented, scripted from autobiographical monologues written by youth with DACA.
- Law Enforcement Leaders Read DREAMer Stories A film of Motus Theater's unprecedented performance in which law enforcement and public safety leaders read the autobiographical monologues of undocumented community members.
- SALSA Lotería An autobiographical monologue performance exploring the life, strength, and resilience of Latina immigrants through personal stories centered on making salsa recipes.
- Let's All Be Americans Now A multimedia history performance exploring the dramatic story behind U.S. immigration history and the central role race and class have played in immigration law.
- TRANSformative Stories An autobiographical monologue project featuring transgender and nonbinary leaders presenting artfully crafted personal stories about their hopes, dreams, and experiences of negotiating oppression and liberation.
- What Love Requires An autobiographical monologue project featuring parents of transgender and nonbinary adults sharing stories about how they transformed their own perceptions of gender and parenting to support their children.
- Motus Playback Improv Theater A community storytelling project using improvisational theater where audience members share stories from their lives and professional improv actors enact them using movement, music, and spoken word.
- Murals Project Public art installation featuring 12 murals in Denver and Boulder featuring ImmigrantAmerica project monologists, with QR codes linking to English and Spanish videos of the monologists reading their stories.
- ImmigrantAmerica Project A project that aims to interrupt dehumanizing portrayals of immigrants by elevating stories of people with DACA and encouraging thoughtful engagement on immigration challenges and the assets immigrants bring.
- Shoebox Stories Hosting Toolkit Physical toolkit for community reading events featuring scripts, photos, instructions, and discussion questions for 4-8 people, available with home license ($53) and institutional license options.
Quantifiable outcome
- Boulder County law enforcement changed policies affecting undocumented individuals following 'Law Enforcement Leaders Read DREAMer Stories' performance
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use MOTUS THEATER
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles6 records
MOTUS THEATER technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
MOTUS THEATER partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
28 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.
- Fair and Just ProsecutionflagshipMotus is currently touring the JustUs monologues with DA offices across the nation in collaboration with Fair and Just Prosecution, presenting performances at their national conferences.
- National Immigration Integration Conference (NIIC)coreFeatured ImmigrantAmerica monologues at NIIC conference as keynote presentations.
- Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees Conference (GCIR)coreFeatured ImmigrantAmerica monologues at GCIR conference.
- Bioneers ConferencecoreFeatured ImmigrantAmerica monologues as keynote at Bioneers Conference.
- Netroots NationcoreFeatured ImmigrantAmerica monologues as keynote at Netroots Nation political conference.
- Rural Women's AssemblyminorFeatured ImmigrantAmerica monologues as keynote at Rural Women's Assembly.
- Women Donors NetworkminorFeatured ImmigrantAmerica monologues as keynote at Women Donors Network.
- National Immigration Law CentercoreListed partner organization for ImmigrantAmerica project presentations.
- For FreedomsminorPartner organization for UndocuAmerica project.
- Black Alliance for Just Immigration (BAJI)minorPartner organization for ImmigrantAmerica project.
- ACLU ColoradocorePartner organization for UndocuAmerica project presentations.
- Planned Parenthood Rocky MountainsminorPartner organization for ImmigrantAmerica project.
- Colorado Immigrant Rights CoalitioncoreKey partner organization for immigration advocacy and ImmigrantAmerica project.
- National Association for Community and Restorative Justice (NACRJ)flagshipHosted JustUs Monologues as keynote at NACRJ Conference (2019, 2022).
- Grantmakers in the ArtscoreHosted JustUs monologues as keynote at GIA Conference 2019.
- European Forum for Restorative JusticecorePresented JustUs at RJ World Conference (2020, 2022) and REstART Festival (2020).
- Conference on World Affairs (CU Boulder)corePresented JustUs at Conference on World Affairs (2021, 2022).
- ACLUcorePartner organization for JustUs project presentations.
- Vera Institute of JusticecorePartner organization for JustUs criminal justice reform presentations.
- Faith Matters NetworkcoreNational partnership for faith-based reading collaborations of UndocuAmerica and JustUs monologues.
- Justice for Our NeighborscoreNational faith-based immigration organization partnering for readings across Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Texas.
- City of BouldercorePartner for Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan community visioning sessions using Playback Theater.
- Dairy Arts CenterminorVenue partner for BVCP Playback community events.
- Boulder Public LibraryminorVenue partner for BVCP Playback community events.
- Parent Engagement Network (PEN)coreCo-presenter of What Love Requires performances featuring parents of transgender and nonbinary adults.
- Boulder Phil String QuartetcoreCollaboration for Stories of Migration & Music performance featuring immigrantAmerica monologists with live string quartet.
- Louisville Cultural CouncilminorSponsor for TRANSformative Stories performance in Louisville.
- Edica PachacoreMuralist who created 12 murals (6 in Denver, 6 in Boulder) featuring UndocuAmerica/ImmigrantAmerica monologists with QR codes to story videos.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves12 records
Expansion highlights10 records
MOTUS THEATER competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The Moth: Nonprofit storytelling organization producing live autobiographical story performances and a flagship podcast — directly analogous to Motus's combined live performance + Shoebox Stories/Motus Monologues podcast distribution model.
- Cornerstone Theater Company: Community-engaged theater company that creates original work in collaboration with communities historically excluded from mainstream theater — comparable in mission of centering marginalized voices through collaborative performance-making.
- StoryCorps: National nonprofit whose mission is to record, preserve, and share untold human stories via audio recordings; closely comparable in mission-driven autobiographical storytelling, podcast distribution, and archive-building.
- The Civilians: Investigative theater company that develops original plays from real interviews with communities on the frontlines of social issues — directly aligned with Motus's model of original theater as a vehicle for community-driven social issue dialogue.
- Pregones Theater: Bronx-based Latino theater company producing original work rooted in Puerto Rican/Latinx stories and immigrant experience — directly comparable to Motus's UndocuAmerica/ImmigrantAmerica work centered on immigrant stories and bilingual delivery.
- Sojourn Theatre: Applied/community-based theater company creating original work with civic partners on social issues — comparable in applied theater methodology and civic engagement use cases (e.g., Motus's Boulder Valley Comprehensive Plan Playback partnership with the City of Boulder).
Broad incumbents
- Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed (TOPLAB / Center for Theatre of the Oppressed NYC): Network of organizations practicing Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed methodology — overlapping with Motus's playback theater and forum-based dialogue work as well as its use of theater as a tool for marginalized communities to address oppression.
- Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Major Chicago-based nonprofit theater producing original and contemporary work with social relevance — comparable as an established original-theater producer, but at a much larger scale with broader programming beyond social-issue theater.
- Atlantic Theater Company: Off-Broadway nonprofit theater producing original plays — comparable as an established original-theater-producing nonprofit, though operating at a substantially larger scale and not specifically focused on social-issue autobiographical monologues.
Others
- National New Play Network: Alliance of professional theaters that develops and produces new plays; an adjacent ecosystem organization that shares Motus's original-theater-development mission but operates as a producer network rather than a producing company.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
MOTUS THEATER financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
MOTUS THEATER leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
MOTUS THEATER funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
MOTUS THEATER M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about MOTUS THEATER
What does MOTUS THEATER do?
Motus Theater creates original autobiographical theater performances, films, and podcasts featuring community leaders on the frontlines of social issues such as immigration, criminal justice, and gender identity. The organization uses a 17-24 week transformative storytelling workshop methodology to develop artfully crafted monologues, and distributes its content through live performances, national tours, institutional licensing, DVDs/streaming, podcasts, and community reading toolkits.
Is MOTUS THEATER a public or private company?
MOTUS THEATER is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was MOTUS THEATER founded?
MOTUS THEATER was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is MOTUS THEATER based?
MOTUS THEATER is headquartered in Boulder, United States, in the North America region.
How does MOTUS THEATER make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Donations and Fundraising is the primary driver. The others are film and DVD Sales, event Ticket Sales and shoebox Stories Hosting Toolkit Sales.
Who are MOTUS THEATER's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The Moth, Cornerstone Theater Company, StoryCorps, The Civilians, Pregones Theater and Sojourn Theatre. Broad incumbents are Augusto Boal's Theatre of the Oppressed (TOPLAB / Center for Theatre of the Oppressed NYC), Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Atlantic Theater Company. National New Play Network is listed as an others.
Does MOTUS THEATER have an API?
No public API is recorded for MOTUS THEATER.
What industry is MOTUS THEATER in?
MOTUS THEATER's product category is Performing Arts Theater. Its primary akta.pro industry code is MPAGABAH, Classical & Contemporary Theatre (Plays/Drama), with a secondary code of MPAGABAJ, Improvisational Theatre. Its NAICS code is 711110 and its SIC code is 7812.