Events

Friday October 29, 2021 – 4pm to 5pm MT

Creatives Empowered and Sweet Potato Productions presents

“I have a difficult relationship with Alberta.”

Althea Cunningham said this in one of our previous events, and it resonated with everyone present.

How does that statement make you feel?

Living in Alberta as a racialized person, can be challenging at the best of times.  We’re now in the fourth wave of a COVID-19 pandemic.  It’s been a year and a half since Black Lives Matter protests erupted worldwide.  Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Representation are now in the consciousness of Alberta’s arts + culture sector.  And the heavy work of “moving the needle” has begun.  So how are we all faring today?

It was clear we needed an event to explore this statement, and CE approached Althea Cunningham to curate and host it – since she was the inspiration.

We invite artists + creatives who self identify as Indigenous, Black and People of Colour (IBPOC) to join us.  This is a safe and open space to discuss our difficult relationships with Alberta. 

Soni Dasmohapatra | Cultural Administrator & Educator

Soni has been involved in the Alberta cultural sector since she was a child.  She is a trained classical Indian Kathak dancer.  Soni is a choreographer of folk dances from India as well as Bhangra and Bollywood.  She also has been a cultural administrator in the areas of Canadian Heritage and Arts both in Alberta and Ontario.  She has collaborated with Skirts Afire to be a story teller in the documentary “Covid Collections” which is being featured during the month of October 2021 in the Edmonton International Film Festival.  As part of her community work in Edmonton she is a board member of two cultural organizations, Azimuth Theatre and Litfest.  She participates in theater as a member of Thirdspace Playback Company.  Soni is a passionate educator and practitioner who uses yoga and somatics as pathways of self discovery, healing and artistic creation.

Christine Sokaymoh Frederick | Executive Director, Dreamspeakers Festival Society

Christine is an urban Aboriginal Cree-Métis residing in Edmonton, Alberta.  She is co-founder and the artistic director of Alberta Aboriginal Performing Arts and produces the annual Rubaboo Festival, and the Executive Director of the Dreamspeakers Film Festival.  She is the first Indigenous Associate Artist of the Citadel Theatre, and the first indigenous board member of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra.  She is former chair of the Edmonton Arts Council and former Vice Chair of the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.  Christine served on the steering, working and selection committee for the ÎNÎW River Lot 11, one of the first Indigenous Public Art Parks in the world.  She is the recipient of the 2007 Esquao Award in Arts, and the 2016 Mayor’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Leadership.  She also sits on the Advisory Committees for the City of Edmonton Indigenous Artist in Residence, and the Creation Fund of the National Arts Centre.

Melanee Murray-Hunt | Writer, Actor & Filmmaker

Melanee has written, directed and performed for stage and screen.  She has co-produced a pilot script for Time Warner and is currently in development with a series with Mosaic Entertainment.  Her most recent work, a web series on domestic violence, will be launched at the end of August 2021.  Melanee has won awards for her short films Race Anonymous, The Trial of Miss Mudimbe, and for her solo stage show, The ‘Hoodwink.  Her plays, The Venus of Basin Street, (aka Nothing Like The Sun) The ‘Hoodwink have both premiered to critical acclaim in Calgary and New York City.  Her other films include Do The Math, and her film, currently in post-production, The Invincible Jayson Garvey, the screenplay of which garnered a twenty thousand funding award from Calgary Arts Development as well as being selected for the Women In The Director’s Chair Career Accelerator Program and shortlisted by WIDC for Telefilm’s Talent To Watch Program.  As an actor Melanee can be seen in various television, film and independent productions, including the award winning Jasmine Road, the APTN series Tribal, the indie film Black and Blue, the Nickelodeon Show 100 Deeds For Eddie McDowd (as a series regular), the feature film K-PAX, the series Judging Amy, Law and Order and others.

Titilope Sonuga | Poet, Playwright & Performer

Titlope is a Nigerian writer, poet, playwright and performer whose work grasps for moments of tenderness and persistent joy at the intersection of blackness and womanhood.  She is the author of three award-winning collections of poetry, Down to Earth (2011), Abscess (2014), and This Is How We Disappear (2019) and has composed and released two spoken word albums, Mother Tongue (2011) and Swim (2019). Titilope has written three plays, The Six; an intergenerational exploration of womanhood, Naked; a one-woman play and Ada The Country, a musical.  She has scripted global advertising campaigns for brands including; The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Google, Intel Corporation, Guaranty Trust Bank and The MacArthur Foundation.  She was an actor on the hit television series Gidi Up, which aired across Africa.  Her writing has been translated into Italian, German and Slovak.  She is the 9th Poet Laureate of the City of Edmonton.

Althea Cunningham | Curator & Moderator

Althea is an award winning musician with On The Verge her debut soul music EP.  Produced in (2009) it has had local, national and international featured artist spots and airplay. She is interarts: actor, writer and producer.  As an actor she has worked for several theatres across Canada.  A few of them are: Western Canada Theatre, Theatre Calgary, Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, National Ice Theatre of Canada, Francis Winspear Centre For Music and Citadel Theatre.  In television and film she has played roles for Farewell Productions, Coast Mountain Productions (The L Word 2007- 2009), Tooth Fairy Productions and Pyramid/AlphaMel Productions on The Invincible Jayson Garvey (2020).  As a writer she centres around intersections of trauma, healing and social justice.  Her first commissioned play was 2 Metres (2020).  She has written four short plays and two (full-length) pieces.  Shorts were produced with three companies: Sunkiss; Snapshots 10 minute play festival (Chicago 2017); Brown Suga and Color Blind by Workshop West Playwrights Theatre.  Readings of work: DaPopo Script Series (2017), Black Arts Matter(2018), Script Salon (2017) and RBC Emerging writer program (2017).  Monologues from Sweet An Nice (full- length) and The System (spoken-word and hip hop) were produced by Sarasvati Productions (2017- 2018).  As a producer On The Verge soul music EP (2010) and live music events across Western Canada; Althea Cunningam Duo, Trio and Quartet (2007- 2017).  She will be a co-producer for the world premiere production of Sunkiss To Death on February 7- 13, 2022..

Monday July 26, 2021

Creatives Empowered and BIPOC TV & Film presents, in partnership with AMPIA

Making It In… is a regional panel series presented by BIPOC TV & Film featuring creatives from different cities and provinces in Canada. Panelists share their professional journeys, their experiences working and creating in different parts of Canada, and how they navigate the system.

This edition features Cheryl Foggo, Cody Lightning and Roseanne Supernault, and is moderated by BIPOC TV & Film’s Executive Director Kadon Douglas!

Cheryl Foggo | Playwright & Filmmaker

Cheryl Foggo is a playwright, author and filmmaker, whose work over the last 30 years has focused on the lives of Western Canadians of African descent. In 2020 her NFB feature documentary “John Ware Reclaimed” had its World Premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival where it received the Alberta Feature Audience Choice Award. The film was also awarded the 2021 Grand Prize in the Regards D’ici section of the Vues d’Afrique Festival and is now screening on nfb.ca. Additionally in 2020, the 30th anniversary edition of her book “Pourin’ Down Rain: A Black Woman Claims Her Place in the Canadian West” was released by Brush Education Press. She is the 2021 recipient of the Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Outstanding Artist Award, the Calgary Black Chambers Black Achievement Award in Arts, Media and Entertainment and the 2021 Doug and Lois Mitchell Outstanding Calgary Artist Award from Calgary Arts Development.

Cody Lightning | Actor, Writer & Director

Cody Lightning, is an established actor originally from Alberta, Canada and is a member of Samson Cree First Nation in Maskwacis. Lightning grew up in Los Angeles with his mother, celebrated actress Georgina Lightning, who moved there in the 1980s to pursue a career in Hollywood.  He displayed artistic talent early on landing his first role at just 5 years of age.  From there he went on to become one of Hollywood’s top Native American child actors of the 90s decade.  Lightning has worked with some of Hollywood’s top actors like Johnny Depp, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Marlin Brando, Don Cheadle, Bradley Cooper, Zoey Deschanel, Luis Guzman and Chuck Norris.  Throughout his teenage years Lightning continued to work in the film and TV industry travelling extensively across the USA and Canada.  His experiences have enabled him to develop a unique ability to relate to people from all backgrounds and have shaped him into a remarkably diverse talent.  Additionally, Lightning has experience working in improv, theatre, stand-up comedy, executive producing, public speaking and mentoring.  Having spent almost a quarter decade of his life in the entertainment industry, now at the age of 34 Lightning possesses a broad range of impressive talent.  Lightning has also just finished his directorial debut “Hey Viktor” of which he also co-wrote and acted in.

Roseanne Supernault | Actor, Writer & Director

Roseanne is an award-winning actress from East Prairie Metis Settlement in northern Alberta.  She was discovered by a Los Angeles casting director at age 13, and has gone on to have a prolific career as a performer.  Select screen credits include the Netflix hit series “Blackstone”, in which her haunting performance garnered several accolades; the lead character in the historical pre-contact epic “Maina”, for which she received the Best Actress Award at the American Indian Film Festival, and the groundbreaking feature, “Rhymes For Young Ghouls” by Jeff Barnaby, that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was named TIFF Top 10.

Kadon Douglas | Executive Director, BIPOC TV & FILM 

Kadon Douglas is the Executive Director of BIPOC TV & FILM, a grassroots nonprofit organization advocating for equitable representation, access and opportunity for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour creatives working at all levels, above and below-the-line, in Canada’s screen media sector. 

Thursday May 27, 2021

Presented by Cool.World with Stories First and partners, BIPOC TV & Film, REMC, Creatives Empowered and Collective Bunch

This FREE salon series event emphasizes understanding and analyzing film, television, and media arts measurement and data.  The Canadian screen industry must build capacity for these tools, specifically for Black, Indigenous and People of Colour filmmakers, producers, their marketing teams and impact producers.  The majority of funding grants and reports require that data be included as creative leverage and capital; what creatives include in their digital, marketing and distribution plans is crucial to successful funding.  Canada is significantly behind in data measurement and digital disruption and the pressure to close the gap is increasing rapidly.  By shifting the understanding of these tools into our own hands, we give room for the potential to understand our audiences more intimately than traditional funders.

Friday April 30, 2021

How does EMOTIONAL LABOUR show up in your creative work and life?

By design this was a supportive and confidential space for this topic, that was facilitated by Creatives Empowered.

Emotional Labour is a term from sociologist Dr. Arlie Hochschild’s 1983 book The Managed Heart, and describes having to “induce or suppress feeling in order to sustain the outward countenance that produces the proper state of mind in others.”

In essence, the need one feels to suppress their own emotions – i.e. while at work.

For racialized bodies, emotional labour becomes a very real experience we endure to protect ourselves, while often being expected to educate others on racism.

This was a free, open and safe conversation for artists + creatives who are Black, Indigenous and People of Colour to discuss emotional labour and its impacts.

This was an opportunity to share, to listen, to understand and to recognize that we are not alone in our experiences.

Sunday March 28, 2021

Our first event specifically for artists + creatives that are Black, Indigenous and People of Colour – was a safe, open and casual conversation that explored what a true ally is.

Thursday February 25, 2021

Presented by Creatives Empowered and Reelworld Film Festival & Screen Institute, in partnership with AMPIA

A powerful and enlightening discussion on the challenges racialized talent face in Alberta’s screen-based industries – from emerging to established – and the solutions we all need to see.

We share practical and supportive resources you can access now to create more opportunity and equity.

Moderated by Creatives Empowered Founder Shivani Saini, panelists include actor, producer, award-winning entrepreneur and activist Jesse Lipscombe, Emmy nominated Tonya Williams – the Founder and Executive Director of Reelworld, and award-winning Nigerian-Canadian filmmaker Omatta Udalor.

PANELISTS

Jesse Lipscombe | Actor, Producer, Entrepreneur & Activist

Jesse Lipscombe is an Edmonton-based actor, producer, entrepreneur and activist, who started his acting career at age 14 alongside Sidney Poitier in the Calgary-shot film Children of the Dust.  Jesse continues to act and produce in award-winning productions, and is a multiple CSA and Rosie award nominee.  In 2018, Jesse was the recipient of the Obsidian Award for Top Business Leader in Western Canada, and he was named Community Man of the Year by Diversity Magazine. Through it all, Jesse’s top priority has been giving back to his community, which he’s done through multiple annual fundraisers and partnerships with Edmonton charities such as WIN House and iHuman.  In September 2017, Jesse and his wife Julia launched the #MakeItAwkward campaign to combat racism, misogyny, homophobia and hatred of all kinds.

Tonya Williams | Founder & Executive Director, Reelworld

Emmy nominated Tonya Williams is the Founder and Executive Director of Reelworld Film Festival and Reelworld Screen Institute, now in their 20th year, and AccessReelworld.ca; North America’s largest recruiting database for racially diverse talent.  Through these organizations she’s been able to advocate and create more access and inclusion for Canadian Black, Indigenous, People of Colour in the screen-based production industries.  She currently sits on Telefilm’s Diversity & Inclusion Group, the Canadian Media Fund Black Industry Leaders Group, Board of Directors for WOW! Unlimited Media, The Black Academy, and is one of the founders and a Board Member of the Black Screen Office.  Tonya is based in Los Angeles.

Omatta Udalor | Producer, Director & Actor

Omatta Udalor is a Nigerian-Canadian producer, director and actor who tells stories from a different perspective, and strives for inclusive stories with a unique voice.  The founder of Floating Handcuffs Entertainment Inc., Omatta has produced 4 award winning short films: Texted, The Trials of Miss Mudimbe, The Citizen and A Path to Somewhere.  As an actor he’s appeared on Heartland, Hell on Wheels, Wynona Earp, Till You’re 16, in web series Private Dicks and The Katabasis and in feature films such as Global Meltdown, The Lost Cafe, and Valerie.  Omatta is an active member of the Calgary Society for Independent Filmmakers, a Cultural Instigator with CADA, and an advocate for diversity, inclusion, tolerant understanding and the empowerment of BIPOC artists and individuals.

Thursday November 26, 2020

Presented By AMPIA and Atelier Culturati

In this unprecedented time Alberta’s film + television industry has an incredible opportunity to start making its productions more inclusive and diverse, by creating real opportunities for media professionals who are Black, Indigenous and People of Colour.

Gain insight from industry pros to understand why you should hire BIPOC and invaluable advice on how to approach it.

Moderated by Shivani Saini (Blackstone), panelists include Georgina Lightning (Trickster), Trevor Solway (Intertribal), Michelle Wong (Heartland) and Gillian Müller from BIPOC TV & FILM, creators of the newly released database HireBIPOC.com.

PANELISTS

Georgina Lightning | Director, Writer & Actress

Georgina Lightning is a member of the Samson Cree Nation.

She co-founded Tribal Alliance Productions, partnering with executive producer Audrey Martinez, as a means to create opportunities for Native American, First Nations, and other Indigenous filmmakers.

In 2008 Lightning directed, wrote, and starred in the award-winning supernatural thriller Older Than America, becoming the first North American Indigenous Woman to direct a major feature film.  She based the film on her father’s experience with the Canadian Indian Residential school system and other personal family stories.

In 2007 she was featured in Filmmaker Magazine as one of 25 New Faces of Independent Film.  In 2010 she was the recipient of the “White House Project- Epic-Award for Emerging Artist”. 

Trevor Solway | Filmmaker

Trevor Solway is a Blackfoot filmmaker from the Siksika Nation.  He founded Solway Entertainment after graduating from MRU’s Journalism program in 2017, and also founded The Napi Collective in 2018, a grassroots filmmaking society to help develop the next wave of Indigenous filmmakers and films.

Solway acts as writer, producer and director for his short films and documentaries, which have been screened at international film festivals and earned many accolades. His film, Indian Giver, has screened at the ImagineNATIVE Media & Arts Festival, the Calgary International Film Festival, the American Indian Film Festival and the LA Skins Fest. His documentary Siksika Strong helped raise $77,000 for the 2013 flood evacuees of his community.  His documentary Intertribal made its world broadcast premiere on CBC.

Michelle Wong | Writer, Director, Producer & Executive Producer

With more than 25 years in the film and television industry, Michelle brings an unparalleled breadth and depth of production experience to Seven24 Films, as Head of Business Affairs.

Michelle’s production credits cross all formats, from television movies to feature length documentaries, performing arts specials and features, including but not limited to Heartland and Wynona Earp.

Michelle began her formal film training at the National Film Board (NFB) working with the Oscar award-winning Studio D, where she directed and produced her first documentary Return Home, following up with the emotionally powerful Pieces of a Dream: A Story of Gambling.

Michelle is also a Board Member of the CMPA and Women in View.

Gillian Müller | Writer

Born and raised in Toronto to a mixed-up Trinidadian family, Gillian was a 2014 resident of the Canadian Film Centre’s Primetime program. Under that year’s showrunner Brad Wright (Stargate) Gillian developed Travelers (Netflix) and wrote Episode 2: ‘Protocol 6.’ Gillian has also written for Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum for PBS, Endlings for Hulu and Lockdown for YouTube. She worked in the 5 writer’s rooms of X Company and Cavendish, as well as several development rooms for shows that never happened. She co-directed the webseries Night Owl (SXSW 2018) and the BravoFact Checking Out, she co-produced Super Zee (WIFF 2019, Outlanta/OutFest 2020) with an all P.O.C. crew. In 2018, Gillian was selected for Muslim Public Affairs Council: Hollywood Bureau’s Drama TV Writer’s Lab sponsored by the Emmy nominated Wise Entertainment. She was named December 2018’s Writer’s Guild of Canada Diverse Script of the Month for her police procedural The Blue Division and was selected by Ben Watkins (Burn Notice, Hand of God) as one of his Toronto Screenwriting Conference’s Breakthrough Artists for 2019. Her pilot script for The Player’s Son is currently in the Top 100 on The Launch Pad. Her feature The Favorite Wife made the second round competition at the Austin Film Festival. Her pilot Spinsters! is on the We For She 2020 list of best unproduced female centred screenplays. Gillian also serves as a Senior Board member of the BIPOC TV & Film Visioning Committee and the Black Women Film! Advisory Board. She currently writes for The Surrealtor for SyFy.