Do you have a story you really want to tell?  Could you use guidance from industry-leading IBPOC professionals on how to produce your own content?

This exclusive IBPOC Content Creator Workshop, took place online on Saturday November 18, 2023 from 10am to 6pm MT.

And featured Ron E. Scott (Prairie Dog Film + Television), Michelle Wong (Seven24 Films), Julian Black Antelope (HERD of 1 MEDIA) and Jennifer Irons (META Talent Agency).  With special words from Andrew Phung (Run the Burbs, Kim’s Convenience) and Jennifer Holness (Hungry Eyes Media).

This workshop covered:

• writing
• showrunning
• directing
• producing
• pitching
• literary agents
• and business affairs

This workshop was for IBPOC Content Creators, who are committed to creating their own content, and have a story they’re passionate and excited to share with the world.

Space was limited to 10 participants.

We’re delighted to share that 5 of our 10 participants were also selected to become Creatives Empowered’s delegation to Prime Time 2024 in Ottawa (Jan 31-Feb 2)!  An excellent opportunity to network, pitch yourself and your content!

Participants had to be Alberta residents, 18 years of age or older, and self-identify as Black, Indigenous and / or a Person of Colour / racialized.

SATURDAY NOVEMBER 18 – 10am to 6pm MT

ONLINE VIA ZOOM

APPLICATION DEADLINE: SUNDAY NOVEMBER 12 at 5pm MT

SUCCESSFUL APPLICANTS WERE NOTIFIED BY EMAIL ON NOVEMBER 14

ABOUT RON E. SCOTT

Ron E. Scott is an award-winning Showrunner and Director with over twenty five years of industry experience, and a member of the Métis Nation of Alberta. After graduating from Vancouver Film School in 1993, he founded Prairie Dog Film + Television and has since become a prominent figure in the world of independent television production. He has been involved in creating five scripted series and his projects have been nominated for over 170 Awards, including; Best Dramatic Series and Best Dramatic Writing at the Canadian Screen Awards.

As a prolific producer and innovator, he has contributed to over 200 episodes of TV that have broadcast globally, including BLACKSTONE and TRIBAL, now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and APTN lumi. Scott has been honored with the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal, as well as an Achievement in Artistic Direction Award and an Ambassador of the Arts Award at the Mayor’s Celebration of the Arts in Edmonton, Alberta. Scott was also recognized in the House of Commons as the recipient of the prestigious 2015 Indspire Award for the Arts in Canada.

Scott serves on the board of the Alberta Film Advisory Council. He is a member of CMPA, ACCT, AMPIA, DGC, WGC, the Aboriginal Filmmakers Program at the NFB, and is on the CMPA Feature Film and Television Committee. He has acted as a consultant with Telefilm Canada and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts. Scott also volunteers his time to speak at conferences, festivals, and seminars, including; the Banff World Media Festival, DGC Indigenous Voices, Bell Media Diverse Screenwriting Program (WGC), Industry Canada (ABC), Dreamspeakers, E-Spirit, the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (NAIT), Innoversity Creative Summit, Cultural Industries Training Fund (CITF), the imagineNATIVE Film Festival and the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF).

ABOUT MICHELLE WONG

Michelle began her formal film training at the NFB, working with Studio D where she produced and directed her first documentary Return Home, following up a decade later with the emotionally powerful Pieces of a Dream: A Story of Gambling.

Michelle’s production credits cross all formats, from television movies to feature length documentaries, performing arts specials and features. Most recent credits include Executive Producer on the feature length documentaries Close the Divide about climate change and  Undetectable: How Stigma Has Gone Viral in the Fight against HIV. She is business affairs on the documentaries The Good Virus, Flashback and scripted television projects produced at Seven24 Films including Heartland, Jann, Wynonna Earp, Family Law, and Ride.

Michelle currently sits on the board of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Women in View (WIV), and Creatives Empowered an Alberta based collective of artists and creatives who are Black, Indigenous & People of Colour. She was also the lead consultant on a series of business affairs ‘learn by doing’ webinars hosted by the Canadian Independent Screen Fund (CISF).

Michelle is a recent recipient of the Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for her long-standing commitment to the arts in Alberta.

ABOUT JULIAN BLACK ANTELOPE

Representing the Buckskin-Blackhorse family of the Weasel People JBA is a self-taught award-winning actor, writer, director, and producer of Indigenous/Central American & Irish descent who brings 20 years of experience working globally.

His performing career began in the Canadian music scene before transitioning to film and television on Stephen Spielberg’s epic six-part mini-series Into the West (2005) and lay the foundation upon which he built his career with an amalgamation of day player roles, stunts and working various crew positions on a steady stream of projects in southern Alberta.

JBA’s breakout role in a television series would come on the gritty and critically acclaimed Blackstone (2009-2015) where four seasons of his portrayal of Darrien Tailfeathers earned him numerous accolades including a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor alongside Canadian television icons Ed Asner and from the orignal Star Trekseries William Shatner.

In 2014 JBA was cast as “Mr. Kidd” in John Logan’s Penny Dreadful (2014) which took him to Ireland and has since worked consistently both nationally and internationally on high profile Film and TV projects such as Dominion Creek(2015), Condor (2018), Dark Justice (2018), Caught (2018), Hold the Dark (2018) Debris (2021), The Flash (2021),Prey (2021), and now is starring in the soon to be released Netflix series Grendel (2022).

In 2016 JBA founded his own production company HERD of 1 MEDIA, of which he is president/CEO of and has since produced an impressive body of award-winning feature films that have screened world-wide in high profile festivals. His television work includes his own series Secret History ^TM The Wild West (season 1), Women Warriors (season 2) of which he is creator, writer, director, producer, showrunner and star of, continues to win numerous awards, nominations and accolades as its third season is currently underway.

Also, Creator, Founder, CEO and President of western Canada’s first PAID Indigenous film training initiative launched in June 2022 under the “proof of concept” single purpose entity Counting Coup Indigenous Film Academy (“CCIFA”), JBA assembled a management team to execute a successful ”trial program” in partnership with Old Sun Community College and the Siksika Nation.

Julian Black Antelope’s commitment to his craft, cultural heritage, and fostering the next generation of Indigenous talent through his Pathfinders Training program (Est.2016), make him an inspiring and influential figure in the entertainment world today.

ABOUT JENNIFER IRONS

Jennifer Irons, a writer turned talent agent, founded META Talent Agency, the first Black-owned film & TV literary talent agency in Canada. META’s mission is to discover, nurture, promote, and help advance Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC) careers for long-term success in the entertainment industry. In 2021, Jennifer was named one of Playbacks 10 to Watch, and in 2022 was a participant of the BANFF Spark Accelerator for Women in Business, and the Reelworld Black Entrepreneur Program. Jennifer fuses her business acumen and screenwriting training (she studied at Act One Film School in Los Angeles, California) to help serve as a manager/agent for her clients.During her writing career, Jennifer was named one of Reelworld’s top 20 Emerging Canadian Filmmakers of Colour, won the Canada Telefilm New Voices Award, and received the Bell Media/Corus Entertainment Primetime TV Writing Program award. Jennifer’s short film Opportune screened at the 2019 Toronto Black Film Festival, and her dramatic feature, Intolerance: No More, screened at the 2020 American Black Film Festival, before landing distribution with Random Media. Jennifer was staffed on the US/Canada co-production television series, Pretty Hard Cases, and in the development room of the BYUtv and Marble Media co-productions, The Parker Andersons and Amelia Parker.

PRODUCED WITH THE GENEROUS SUPPORT OF