Banff, AB -- June 11, 2019 - Today, at the 2019 Banff World Media Festival, Netflix joined imagineNATIVE, The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and Wapikoni Mobile to announce a suite of partnership programs that aim to develop the next generation of Indigenous creators across Canada. These programs range from screenwriting intensives to apprenticeship programs, joining the 11 existing partnership programs Netflix has funded to nurture the next generation of Canadian creators from underrepresented communities.

“Indigenous communities in Canada are rich with unique stories, and organizations like imagineNATIVE, The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and Wapikoni Mobile are vital to ensuring these voices are heard,” said Stéphane Cardin, Director of Public Policy, Netflix Canada. “Netflix is proud to help launch these three programs, which will reach Indigenous communities across the country.”

imagineNATIVE

The game-changing Netflix-imagineNATIVE partnership will demonstrate an unprecedented level of support for Indigenous filmmakers in Canada, who have urgent needs for professional development programming designed from Indigenous perspectives and delivered within Indigenous contexts by an Indigenous-run organization. Over the next three-and-a-half years, imagineNATIVE will undertake or expand six distinct activities aimed at Indigenous screenwriters, directors and producers through its Institute department:

Indigenous Producers Lab

Indigenous Directors Lab

Indigenous Screenwriting Intensive

‘imagineNATIVE Originals’ Mentorship Commissions

Original Storytellers Series Incubator

Festival Industry Days & Year-Round Institute Series.

“We are thrilled to partner with Netflix to offer an unprecedented series of professional development initiatives at imagineNATIVE,” says Jason Ryle, executive director of imagineNATIVE. “This funding is a significant investment in opportunities for Indigenous directors, producers, and screenwriters in Canada, and marks one of the largest sponsorships in imagineNATIVE’s history.”

The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO)

The ISO-Netflix Production Mentorship and Apprenticeship Program will provide second phase support for Indigenous projects that may have received development support through other programs such as those offered by imagineNATIVE Institute, Hot Docs, Banff World Media Festival, or Whistler Film Festival, as well as others. The Program will include two streams: Key Creative Apprenticeships and Cultural Mentorships for directors, producers, screenwriters and showrunners.

“ISO spent the last year in consultations with Indigenous creators and this fund responds to their expressed need for new funding opportunities that will advance work and career opportunities, as well as allow them to follow protocols and practices that are central to Indigenous ways of working,” says Jesse Wente, director of the Indigenous Screen Office.

Wapikoni Mobile

Mentoring and coaching are at the heart of the unique Wapikoni Mobile development experience, and increased accessibility of tools, spaces and trainers are offered through the mobility of its studios. Wapikoni’s approach is centered around the belief that it is essential for the next generation to be inspired by the success of their community. With this new partnership, Wapikoni will be able to coordinate its important collective of emerging filmmakers, organize the numerous opportunities, and structure a program of both continuing education and professional coaching which will have a profound and lasting impact on the next generation of Indigenous creators.

At the centre of Wapikoni’s priorities is the intent to highlight a significant collection of audiovisual works and an immeasurable cultural heritage of artistic expression and Indigenous identity while promoting:

Mediation, dialogue

Awareness, education

Building bridges between Nations, Peoples and generations.

“At Wapikoni, we believe that many young Indigenous artists are isolated from opportunity. When travelling to them locally to offer tools and resources to create short films, we discovered that this journey also leads to supporting the development of talented, emerging filmmakers. Learning from the creative process is at the heart of important social transformations, especially in terms of personal growth, community development, community involvement. We are proud to support the emergence of unique artistic and cultural signatures which will have an invaluable contribution to new audiovisual productions,” explains Odile Joannette, from the Pessamit First Nation of Quebec, and executive director at Wapikoni. “The support from Netflix will allow us to continue to foster narrative sovereignty and cinematographic excellence, and we are absolutely thrilled to count Netflix as a partner, not only for our organization, but also for the voices of Indigenous youth,” she added.

Netflix’s support of these programs comes from its fund to develop the next generation of Canadian creators and talent, focused on underrepresented communities in the screen industry. This announcement marks the 12th, 13th and 14th partnerships since the fund was announced in September 2017. Other recent announcements in 2019 include partnerships with the Inside Out Film Festival, RIDM (Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal), and the Alliance des producteurs francophones du Canada (APFC).

About Netflix

Netflix is the world's leading internet entertainment service with over 148 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments.

About ImagineNATIVE

imagineNATIVE is the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous-made screen content. It presents the annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Festival in Toronto and the imagineNATIVE Film + VR Tour nationally in Canada. The imagineNATIVE Institute is a department within the organization that presents professional development programming for Indigenous screen content creators year-round and as part of the Festival’s Industry Days. imagineNATIVE is an international leader in the presentation and promotion of Indigenous screen-based content and its Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary on October 22-27, 2019.

About the Indigenous Screen Office

The Indigenous Screen Office serves and advocates on behalf of the Indigenous screen industry, its producers, creators and storytellers. The ISO’s mission is to foster Indigenous narrative sovereignty on screen, meaning that the content produced is owned and controlled by Indigenous creators. The ISO supports all levels of talent development through advocacy, training and funding initiatives. We serve as a connector for Indigenous creators to opportunities, networks and information while educating the broader screen sector about Indigenous contexts as they relate to screen-based funding and creation.

About Wapikoni Mobile

Wapikoni Mobile is a mobile intervention, training and creative studio for Indigenous youth. Its mission is to amplify the voices of the Indigenous generation through film and music, to broadcast their work in Canada and abroad, and to act as a tool for professional development and social transformation. Since its inception, thousands of Wapikoni participants from 28 Nations have collaborated on more than 1,200 short films translated into multiple languages and winners of numerous awards and honors at national and international festivals. Wapikoni is a non-profit and charitable organization supported by several private and public partners. Wapikoni is now, since 2017, an official UNESCO partner.