Latest posts from National Screen Institute - Canada (NSI)

Jason Mackay filled a need that had been missing in the BC film industry.

Jason is a BIPOC producer from Vancouver. When a director asked him to hire Black talent on a recent film, he faced a dilemma about where to search out these creatives.

Vancouver is one of Canada’s thriving film hubs, and Jason believed the current industry was not properly reflecting the diversity within the city.

This inspired him to launch Collective Bunch – an online collection of BIPOC actors, producers, directors, hair and makeup artists and everything in between.

Jason started Collective Bunch in September with the goal to create an industry that is more inclusive, understanding and reflective of the country’s culturally rich demographic.

Collective Bunch joins other BIPOC talent databases in Canada including BIPOC TV & Film’s cross-country HireBIPOC initiative, Access Reelworld and Film in Colour.

Collective Bunch aims to support its community and help as many BIPOC creatives as possible. To join the Collective Bunch, send a headshot and bio to info@collectivebunch.com. More information about the online collective can be found on their website.

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Queen of the Morning Calm, written and directed by Gloria Kim (NSI Diverse TV Director), is available for rental and purchase on select online platforms starting December 4.

The film will be available on iTunes, Apple TV and Vimeo OTT in early December, with a presale on iTunes beginning today.

After its premiere at Whistler Film Festival last year, the film has been showcased at festivals across the country and earned several awards for best director.

The film follows an immigrant sex worker trying to break the cycle of abuse, while making a better life for herself and her daughter.

For more information on how to watch Queen of the Morning Calm, check out their iTunes page.

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Congratulations to Ryan Cooper (NSI IndigiDocs, CBC New Indigenous Voices) for being selected as one of Playback‘s 10 to Watch.

Every year, Playback highlights 10 up-and-coming Canadians in the film/broadcast industry. These 10 emerging creatives are celebrated for their prominent voices and original ideas.

The following piece, written by Lauren Malyk and reproduced with the kind permission of Playback, shines a light on Ryan Cooper and their start in the industry.

• • •

Ryan Cooper isn’t afraid to talk about past battles with self-acceptance.

The 36-year-old Ojibwe two-spirit LGBTQ2S+ writer/producer/director from Manitoba’s Peguis First Nation, who uses the pronouns he and they interchangeably, admits that they have had to come to terms with accepting who they really are over the years. A theme that also shines through in some of the stories that they create.

Take animated comedy My Sassy Sasquatch, for example.

The 10 x 15-minutes digital series in development with CBC Gem – which was tapped as one of the Banff World Media Festival (BANFF) and Independent Production Fund’s (IPF) Producer Bursaries earlier this year – draws inspiration from the First Nation Ojibway legend and one of the seven grandfather teachings, following a teenage boy and a two-spirited Sasquatch from the non-colonial spirit world who is tasked with helping him live honestly.

Telling stories like this that come from reality in a modern, authentic and entertaining way are what drive the co-CEO of prodco Rainy Storm Productions, who notes the project’s eponymous Sasquatch character is the embodiment of what Cooper aspires to be. “It stands for honesty,” Cooper tells Playback.

Growing up, Cooper recalls always wanting to be creative but encountering various challenges along the way, including a dyslexia diagnosis when he was in school. Undeterred, they ended up penning a story that drew plaudits from his classmates.

Deciding to pursue acting, the creative left home at 17-years-old without consulting their parents, taking part in a summer program at the Centre for Indigenous Theatre in Toronto.

However, after completing the program, Cooper struggled to find acting work and faced frustrating stereotypes, leading him to pursue further studies, such as a filmmaking course at the University of Winnipeg and new media at Interactive Design Nu Media.

Those studies led Cooper to the National Screen Institute where his career really got started.

Taking part in the non-profit’s CBC New Indigenous Voices program in 2017, Cooper worked on the first season of Nüman Films’ APTN/TVO docuseries First Contact, and the IndigiDocs program in 2018, where he produced the Gimli Film Festival award-winning When the Children Left with writer/director/producer Charlene Moore.

It was during this time that Cooper learned the fundamentals of production, and, crucially, how to advance their career. The NSI showed them the doors to go through, Cooper says. They just had to do the work to walk through them.

It’s his combination of drive and personality that has paved the way for all the success he’s seen, says NSI manager, programs & development Ursula Lawson, who previously ran the CBC New Indigenous Voices program.

And when you have a group of people, there’s always one that brings them all together, Lawson adds. Cooper is just “that sort of person.”

“He loves to do what other people stress about,” Lawson notes. “You can have Claude [Joli-Coeur] from the NFB, you can have Val Creighton in the room, he’ll just walk up to them and talk to them. He’s a very sincere character and that definitely comes across.”

Cooper’s reputation is starting to precede them, and Lawson says she gets “a kick” when industry people at festivals outside of Manitoba talk to her about the writer/producer/director, recommending the two connect.

Since Cooper graduated, his career has quickly progressed.

For instance, in 2018 the producer won the APTN/imagineNATIVE Web Series Pitch Competition with director Adeline Bird for docuseries iNdigiThreads (3 x 30 minutes). Originally set to shoot before the pandemic, the project tracking three Indigenous designers as they claim back their identity through fashion is also part of Telefilm Canada’s 2019/20 Talent to Watch.

• • •

Read more of Ryan’s story, and other stories from the 10 to Watch lineup such as Darren Anthony (NSI Totally Television), on Playback‘s website.

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