When science redefines death, what does it mean to live?

a premium four-part series

Through gripping clinical‐thriller reenactments, vivid animations, and firsthand accounts from world-class researchers and patients, Lucid Dying uncovers radical new science proving death isn’t a binary—and reveals how what lies beyond could transform the way we live.

From the creators of After Death, one of the highest grossing documentaries of the decade, comes a bold new cinematic adaptation of New York Times bestselling author Dr. Sam Parnia’s groundbreaking look at what happens to us when we die, based on the largest-ever research study of its kind.

Series Format: 4 × 45-min premium episodes with Episodes 1-2 able to combine into a 92-min theatrical feature for a first-window event release (“make-once / window-twice”)

Genre DNA: Clinical thriller meets cinematic vérité. Hard science, intimate testimony, and stylised recreations

Logline: When cutting-edge medicine collides with the moment of death, Dr Sam Parnia and a global network of scientists race to map—and potentially reverse—the grey zone between life and oblivion

Why now?

Opportunity for firsthand coverage of NYU’s upcoming scientific attempt a historic resuscitation, including experiments showing brain activity hours after death.

Adaptation of the most comprehensive book on near-death and post-death science ever written.
Unprecedented cinematic access to new clinical research, ethical debates, and survivor testimony.

Episodes

Episode 1: The Threshold

Death isn’t an instant, it’s a process.

Bring Parnia’s ER frontlines to life, chart how landmark CPR and ECMO advances have reshaped our understanding of death, and dive into the high-stakes history of lifesaving techniques.

Episode 2: The Grey Zone

Consciousness after flat-line

Showcase the real-life “lucid dying” state, drawing from testimonies and EEG/brain data, including BrainX & OrganX experiments dramatized with cinematic metaphor, as well as RED (Recorded Experiences of Death) testimonies.

Episode 3: The Neural Curtain

Should we really be measuring the unknowable?

Dive into NYU’s heated debates, uncover surprising moments of clarity in dementia, and tackle the thorny ethics of organ donation—should we revive the dead if we can’t promise life?

Episode 4: The Return

If death is only the beginning, how then should we live?

Hear from real-life survivors of Recorded Experiences of Death, discuss Dr. Parnia’s own mortality date of October 2051, feature legal and ethical implications from Parnia’s closing chapters.

Visual Style

Verité and Metaphor

lucid sequences, sensory visions, space-time analogies

Explanation and Artistry

visualize data as stylized animations layered over monologue

Beauty & Rigor

clinical-thriller aesthetic while maintaining a scientific foundation

Clinical Thriller Re-creations

Real-time EEG during cardiac arrest, showing gamma bursts and coherent memory
Survivor from multi-organ failure describing a life-review matched to Lucid Dying RED typologies
Include controlled lab reenactments based on Parnia’s data

Distribution & Audience

Distribution:

Theatrical Event (Feature Cut): Limited-engagement window via Fathom or specialty distributor to spark press & medical-community screenings.
Global Streamer Premiere (4×45): Landing 45–60 days post-theatrical
Academic & CME Licensing: Packaged lesson plans + RED data visualizations for med-school curricula.
Impact Campaign: Partner with American Heart Association & ICU societies to integrate resuscitation-science advocacy.

Audience:

Mainstream doc audiences Ages 28-65: Gravitates to true-science thrillers (Limitless, Huberman Lab).
Medical Community: Emergency & critical-care professionals seeking frontier protocols.
Scientific Skeptics & Thinkers: Audiences of Sam Harris, Lex Fridman, Andrew Huberman podcasts.

Tone: Emotional, hope-filled, introspective, curious, empirical but open

Target: Netflix, NatGeo, Apple, Amazon Prime, HBO, Theatrical + SVOD

Meet the Team

Steven Gray

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - CREATIVE
Stephen Gray is an award-winning Canadian filmmaker based in Winnipeg and the director of After Death, one of the most commercially successful documentaries of the decade. He is currently producing a feature documentary with Amazon Studios.
Sam Parnia, MD, PhD

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER - SCIENTIFIC
Dr. Parnia is a critical-care doctor and researcher at NYU Langone, known for his work on resuscitation science and near-death experiences. He is the leader of the AWARE studies at the Parnia Lab and the NY Times Bestselling author of Erasing Death and Lucid Dying.
Jason Pamer (p.g.a.)

PRODUCER
Jason is a member of the Producer’s Guild of America and has produced multiple theatrically-released documentaries with NY Times Bestselling authors and A-list talent. His latest film, After Death, is the highest grossing faith-based doc of all time.
Eric Esau

SERIES DIRECTOR
Eric is an American film director known for the docu-narrative feature film The Heart of Man, which theatrically released in 30 countries. He is currently in post-production on The Story of Everything, which adapts Dr. Stephen Meyer’s bestseller, ‘The Return of the God Hypothesis.’
Douglas Haines

PRODUCER
As COO at Mew Studios, Douglas has developed and produced hundreds of commercials, advertising spots, and international PR announcements for major brands in the Fortune 500. His latest film, Saturn, has secured distribution for wide release later this year.