Tag Archives: Michelle Thrush

From Jennifer Podemski, Hannah Moscovitch, and Jeremy Podeswa, the Crave and APTN original drama series, Little Bird, premieres May 26

From a media release:

Crave and APTN premiere their much-anticipated original limited series, LITTLE BIRD, Friday, May 26, which follows an inspirational journey of self-discovery and truth. From Crave, APTN, Rezolution Pictures,OP Little Bird, and in partnership with global producer and distributor Fremantle, the six-part, one-hour limited series explores universal themes of resilience in the face of trauma and loss. It follows Bezhig Little Bird (Darla Contois) as she embarks on a path to find her birth family and uncover the hidden truth of her family history. The series streams on Friday, May 26 on Crave and APTN lumi, in English and French, with subsequent episodes dropping Fridays.

Removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan, Bezhig Little Bird is adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at age five, becoming Esther Rosenblum. Now in her 20s, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them. Her search lands her in the Canadian Prairies, worlds apart from everything she knows. As she begins to track down her siblings, she unravels the mystery behind her adoption and discovers that her apprehension was connected to a racist government policy, now known as the Sixties Scoop. Bezhig’s sense of identity shatters, and she is forced to reckon with who she is and who she wants to become.

Led by Contois, the character-driven drama features a talented cast of Indigenous actors, including: Ellyn Jade; Osawa Muskwa; Joshua Odjick; Imajyn Cardinal; Braeden Clarke; Eric Schweig; and Michelle Thrush. Rounding out the cast is Lisa Edelstein (HOUSE) who plays Esther’s adoptive mother, Golda Rosenblum.

The recent winner of the Audience Award Prize at the 2023 SERIES MANIA Festival in Lille, France, LITTLE BIRD was filmed in and around Winnipeg and Brokenhead Ojibway Nation on Treaty 1 territory, in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on Treaty 2 territory, and in Muscowpetung First Nation on Treaty 4 territory. LITTLE BIRD showrunner Jennifer Podemski was also recently presented with an Academy Board Of Directors’ Tribute Award at the 2023 Canadian Screen Awards.

Alongside the final episode on June 30, Crave and APTN lumi are making available COMING HOME, a 90-minute companion documentary providing historical context, about the Sixties Scoop. Directed by Erica Daniels (Run as One), COMING HOME explores the connections between the ground-breaking movement for Indigenous narrative sovereignty and the impact of the child welfare system as experienced through the LITTLE BIRD series’ Indigenous creatives, crew, and Sixties Scoop advisors. COMING HOME provides a structuring through-line, interwoven with interviews with cast, crew, and community members revealing personal connections to the Sixties Scoop.

LITTLE BIRD is a co-production from Crave and APTN, produced by Rezolution Pictures and OP Little Bird with the participation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF), Manitoba Film and Music, the Rogers Cable Network Fund, the Bell Fund, and the COGECO Independent Production Fund. Additional training funding is provided by Bell Media, the Indigenous Screen Office, REEL Canada and the Director’s Guild of Canada (DGC). Fremantle is distributing the series globally.

Led by an Indigenous creative team, LITTLE BIRD is developed by showrunner Jennifer Podemski and Rezolution Pictures, and created by Podemski and head writer Hannah Moscovitch. The creative team includes directors Zoe Hopkins and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and was written by Hopkins and Moscovitch. The series is executive produced by Christina Fon, Ernest Webb, Catherine Bainbridge, Linda Ludwick (Rezolution Pictures), Kim Todd, Nicholas Hirst (Original Pictures), Jennifer Podemski, Hannah Moscovitch, Zoe Hopkins, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Jeremy Podeswa, along with Christian Vesper and Dante Di Loreto (Fremantle). Producers are Tanya Brunel and Jessica Dunn (OP Little Bird), Claire MacKinnon and Philippe Chabot (Rezolution Pictures) and Lori Lozinski and Ellen Rutter.

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Tales from the Rez heads into production for APTN Lumi

From a media release:

Blackfoot Nation Films announced today that their latest project Tales from the Rez from writer/director Trevor Solway (Kaatohkitopii: The Horse He Never Rode, CBC Gem), has gone to camera in Siksika, Alberta.

Tales from the Rez is a horror-comedy anthology series which adapts popular Blackfoot traditional tales and urban legends to the screen. The film stars a remarkable cast of Indigenous talent including Eugene Brave Rock (Dark Winds, Wonder Woman), actor and experimental pop/rock band Ghostkeeper frontman Shane Ghostkeeper (Parallel Minds), Shayla Stonechild (Siren), Michelle Thrush (Prey), Joel Oulette (Trickster), Nathan Alexis (Trickster), Cody Lightning (Echo, Four Sheets to the Wind) and introducing Charles Duck Chief.

Each episode features Blackfoot urban legends and twisted traditional tales. Uncle Randalf, an Elder with one foot in the living world and one foot in the spirit world will introduce the story to unfold in each episode. He speaks directly to the audience with dark humour and a lust for good stories. The initial season takes place in the traditional territories of the Blackfoot confederacy also known as Southern Alberta, Treaty 7. Subsequent seasons will travel to other Indigenous communities around the globe.

Tales from the Rez is written and directed by Trevor Solway (Kaatohkitopii: The Horse He Never Rode), Produced by Colin Van Loon (Blackfoot Nation Films), executive produced by Julian Black Antelope (Secret History of the Wild West) and associate produced by Jessica Matten (Dark Winds), Director of Photography is Aaron Bernakevitch (True West: The John Scott Story).

Tales from the Rez was made possible with the support of the Bell Fund, Indigenious Screen Office and APTN Lumi. The series is currently in production and will air on APTN Lumi.

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