Sense of Source is a documentary and media platform that follows the origins of what we consume — beginning with a 2,400-mile round-trip river expedition to the heart of the Amazon.
Get closer to where things begin, and you find the beauty, the cost, and the human story behind the finished product.
A career spent at the source taught our founder one thing: beauty and difficulty almost always travel together. Sense of Source turns that instinct into a platform — following food, water, commodities, culture, and conservation back to where they begin.
Every story follows the same path:
From the Andes to the Amazon.
Long before the Amazon, founder Robert McLaughlin spent almost four decades with the flower growers high in the Andes, beneath the snow-capped volcanoes of Ecuador — and across the great rose farms of Ecuador and Colombia.
He has gone to the source of flowers, coffee, quinoa, and vegetables throughout Central and South America. Sense of Source grows directly from that instinct: to stand where things begin, and tell the story from there.
Sources he has followed:
A real river expedition following the Amazon watershed from the remote tributaries of eastern Ecuador into Peru — and onward to Iquitos. Not the commercial route. The small rivers, the uncharted stretches, and the territory almost no one crosses.
The standard way from Coca to Iquitos is straight down the Napo — a known, travelled commercial route. We are not taking it.
Our outbound route runs the small river systems instead: the Shiripuno, the Cononaco, and the Curaray — through Waorani territory, past areas where uncontacted groups have attacked, across stretches that remain uncharted, and on into Peru before reaching the Amazon.
We have found no modern record of an expedition reaching Iquitos by these river systems. The return will be the easy way — straight up the Napo.
Thirty-plus days through remote, often uncharted river where reliability isn't a feature — it's survival. Every day is documented: interviews, wildlife, community stops, and the changing river economy, from quiet tributary to the roar of Iquitos.
We are not romanticising this. The outbound leg is genuinely dangerous, and we plan for it honestly — because the places that are hardest to reach are exactly the places whose story never gets told.
We take the risk seriously — Waorani-led navigation, satellite communication, medical protocols, and the discipline to turn back. But a story worth telling rarely sits somewhere safe.
The Amazon is the first franchise, not the whole brand. The same lens travels to new places, industries, and stories — building one audience that grows with every chapter.
2,400 river miles, Coca to Iquitos and back — the anchor story and proof of the platform.
A marine encore around the islands — the natural next water story in the franchise.
Flowers, chocolate, coffee, timber, water, fisheries — every product has a source worth following.
From cloud-forest headwaters to the open ocean — everything downstream is shaped by the source.
Amazon adventure, wildlife, and conservation draw a large global audience — and we're building our own. Ahead of the expedition, a coordinated campaign across traditional media, social, and PR raises awareness of the journey, then carries that momentum into every episode that follows.
Output spans a feature documentary, an episodic series (roughly 15 episodes), short-form social, photography, and a podcast — an organized content library, not a single release.
Founder Robert McLaughlin has spent four decades taking national audiences to the source — as a pioneer of sustainable floriculture. When Organic Bouquet's six-foot roses appeared on ABC's The View, the company became the #1 Google search of the day.
That media instinct now powers the expedition: a coordinated traditional, social, and PR campaign ahead of departure — building into every episode that follows.
Nearly four decades with flower growers high in the Andes, beneath Ecuador's snow-capped volcanoes — and at the source of coffee, quinoa, and vegetables across Central and South America. Founder of Florida Fresh Events, and the audience's point of entry to the story.
An indigenous Waorani naturalist, hunter, and conservationist from the community of Boanamo in the Ecuadorian Amazon. He gained international recognition as a central figure in the award-winning documentary Yasuni Man (2016), directed by Ryan Killackey. On the expedition he is our navigator, wildlife interpreter, and central field voice.
Founders of El Monte Sustainable Lodge in Mindo (est. 1998), Mariela — Ecuadorian — and Tom — American — are pioneering cloud-forest conservationists and champions of community-owned ecotourism, and the couple who helped Otobo start his Amazon safari. They join the expedition as teammates — providing valuable in-country logistical support, data collection in the field, and deep local and cultural knowledge across the Andes-to-Amazon corridor.
We're assembling a small, selective group of founding partners. Category exclusivity is available at every tier — and one lead marine partner will own the water franchise.
The always-visible lead partner. “Amazon Source Expedition 2027, powered by [you].”
Gear genuinely used and demonstrated in the field, with authentic performance storytelling.
Equipment integrated into daily expedition life, visible across long-form and social.
Partners who back the conservation and education mission and the broader platform.
Sponsors support the expedition — they don't control its conclusions. That editorial integrity is exactly what protects a partner's association with the work.
What partners receive
Founding-partner conversations are open now, ahead of the 2027 departure. Reach out for the full prospectus, the shot-by-shot journey, and a call.
robert@senseofsource.com