Tag Archives: Rezolution Pictures

Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Rezolution Pictures announces greenlight for third season of GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land on APTN

From a media release:

Rezolution Pictures is very proud to announce that APTN has greenlit the third season of GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land for a 9-part, half-hour episode series. Principal photography is set to start in May 2023. It’s hot on the heels of Season 2 of GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land, which has just finished post-production and will be broadcast on APTN in late 2023; the official broadcast date will be confirmed once available.

Gespe’gewa’gi: The Last Land is a fun and engaging television series that is, at its core, character-driven, featuring people who do sometimes volatile, dangerous, yet exciting jobs. The series is a celebration of Indigenous people of Atlantic Canada and the fisheries that sustain them, both culturally and economically. We laugh with them, share their successes and frustrations, and get a glimpse of their life in communities that national audiences rarely get to see.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land Season 2 – the 10-part, half-hour documentary series is about the men and women of Mi’kma’ki whose work is connected to the fishing industry. Following larger-than-life characters, we experience the fun and excitement of their lives on and off the water. We also get an inside perspective on how First Nations commercial fishing industries – that were born out of violence and defiance – grew to be a key economic and cultural support for the communities, with conservation at the forefront. The second season takes us to Pictou Landing First Nation and Sipekne’katik in Nova Scotia, as well as Listuguj and Gesgapegiag in Quebec where we meet new characters who will take us harvesting for kelp, fishing for lobster, snow crab, and shrimp, as well as introducing new and exciting species like eel and tuna. This season features a higher proportion of women characters in the industries of commercial fisheries and science.

Season 3 will expand the coverage of Mi’kma’ki, bringing us to different communities in Unama’ki, the Land of the Fog (Cape Breton) and Epekwitk (meaning lying in the water), also known as P.E.I., where we’ll meet captivating people who love their jobs and want to share their stories. They’ll also take us fishing for lobster, snow crab, tuna, trout, eel, and oysters. We’ll continue to learn about the science and conservation efforts surrounding the fisheries, the triumphs and challenges that come with running them, whether it be commercial, Food-Social-Ceremonial or Mi’kmaq Treaty Fishing and the rich cultural and political histories in the context of both modern and traditional Mi’kma’ki.

The first season of the documentary series about the Mi’gmaq fishers of Listuguj, Que., who fish in the breath-taking Gaspé region for salmon, crab, lobster and shrimp, was first broadcast in Winter 2021 and the entire season is available on APTN lumi and CBC Gem.
Upon its premiere in the winter of 2021, of the series received support from major media during its first season, including coverage by the Globe and Mail and CTV’s midday talk show, The Social. Over three months, the trailer garnered over 54,000 views. Watch the Season 1 TRAILER HERE.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land Season 2 with English and Mi’kmaq versions, is co-executive produced by Ernest Webb (Cree) and Greg Lawrence, produced by Lisa M. Roth. Season 2 combines the directing talent of Ernest Webb, Greg Lawrence, and Courtney Montour (Mohawk). Heather Condo (Mi’gmaq) returns as Director Trainee and April Maloney (Mi’kmaq) came on board as director of photography trainee.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land Season 3 in English and Mi’kmaq is directed by Ernest Webb (Cree) and Greg Lawrence, Heather Condo (Mi’gmaq), Eliza Knockwood (Mi’kmaq); produced by Lisa M. Roth. with Production Supervisor Denis McCready; Production Manager Brittany LeBorgne (Mohawk), and production coordinator Shantae Gibson (Kainai)

About Rezolution Pictures
Rezolution Pictures is an award-winning production company that’s changing the narrative when it comes to diversity and representation in the entertainment landscape. They have established original Indigenous content within mainstream media and sold programming around the world in major markets to broadcasters including GEM, APTN, Superchannel, OMNI, TVO, CBC, RDI, ARTV, Télé-Québec, FNX, Vision Maker and internationally with PBS, Peacock +, ARTE. The Emmy-nominated Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World has won awards at Sundance, Hot Docs and the CSAs and the Gemini- and Peabody-winning Reel Injun has been inducted into the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences Museum. The much-anticipated original limited series Little Bird produced with Crave, APTN, OP Little Bird and in partnership with Fremantle premieres on Crave & APTN lumi on May 26 and won the Audience Award Prize at the Séries Mania festival in Lille, France this spring.

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Little Bird

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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Industry News, Little Bird

Principal photography begins on the Crave original series, Little Bird

From a media release:

Crave announced today, in association with Rezolution Pictures, APTN, and OP Little Bird, that production is underway on the Crave Original drama series, LITTLE BIRD. Created by showrunner Jennifer Podemski (UNSETTLED) and head writer Hannah Moscovitch (X COMPANY), the six-part, one-hour limited series follows an Indigenous woman on a journey to find her birth family, and uncover the hidden truth of her past. The series will be available to audiences in English and French, and Fremantle will handle international distribution.

The character-driven drama features an extraordinary cast of Indigenous actors, led by newcomer Darla Contois (Dhaliwal ’15) along with: Ellyn Jade (LETTERKENNY); Osawa Muskwa (World Ends at Camp Z); Joshua Odjick (The Swarm); Imajyn Cardinal (TRIBAL); Mathew Strongeagle (BLACKSTONE); Eric Schweig (BLACKSTONE); and Michelle Thrush (Bones of Crows).

Award-winning filmmakers Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) and Zoe Hopkins (Run Woman Run) each direct three episodes, while Hopkins writes three of the episodes.

LITTLE BIRD explores themes of resilience in the face of trauma and loss. Removed from her home in Long Pine Reserve in Saskatchewan, Bezhig Little Bird is adopted into a Montréal Jewish family at the age of five, becoming Esther Rosenblum (Contois). Now in her 20s, Bezhig longs for the family she lost and is willing to sacrifice everything to find them. Her quest 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.

The production of LITTLE BIRD features a training program that includes opportunities for emerging and mid-career level Indigenous creators and crew as well as for entry-level individuals to gain practical on-set experience leading to subsequent employment in the industry. Built with the understanding that training, skill building, and professional development are integral to building capacity and sustainability in the Indigenous screen sector, the program, is made possible via partnerships with the Indigenous Screen Office, Bell Media, REEL Canada, DGC, DGC Manitoba, and IATSE 856.

LITTLE BIRD is a co-production from Bell Media’s Crave and APTN, produced by Rezolution Pictures and OP Little Bird with the participation of the Canada Media Fund (CMF) and Manitoba Film and Music. Fremantle International is the distributor for the series. 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 series is executive produced by Ernest Webb, Catherine Bainbridge, Christina Fon, Linda Ludwick (Rezolution Pictures), Kim Todd, Nicholas Hirst (Original Pictures), Jeremy Podeswa, Jennifer Podemski, and Hannah Moscovitch, along with Christian Vesper and Dante Di Loreto (Fremantle). Producers are Tanya Brunel and Jessica Dunn (OP Little Bird), Philippe Chabot (Rezolution Pictures) and Ellen Rutter.

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Industry News, Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Rezolution Pictures announces greenlight for second season of GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land on APTN

From a media release:

Rezolution Pictures is very proud to announce that APTN has greenlit the second season of GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land for a 10-part, half-hour episode series. Pre-production is scheduled to begin in August and shooting commences in Fall 2021, continuing into Summer 2022 in the Mi’gmaq communities of Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land, Season 2, is a documentary series about the Indigenous men and women of Mi’gmagi who work for Indigenous-run commercial fisheries Following larger-than-life characters, we experience the fun and excitement of their lives on and off the water. We also get an inside perspective on how First Nations commercial fishing industries — that were born out of violence and defiance — grew to be a key economic and cultural support for the communities.

The subject is quite topical as two events have been in the news in the last year: The conflicts between Nova Scotia’s Mi’kmaq and non-Indigenous commercial fishers and the British Columbia Court of Appeal’s upholding of parts of a lower court ruling that Canada’s regulation and management of regular commercial fisheries unjustifiably infringed on the First Nations fishers’ rights to harvest and sell fish.

The first season of the documentary series about the Mi’gmaq fishers of Listuguj, Que., who make their living on the nearby waters harvesting salmon, crab, lobster and shrimp, was first broadcast in Winter 2021 and the entire season is re-running on APTN now as well as on APTN lumi.

Featuring some of the larger-than-life characters from Season One and introducing some new brave, funny, and robust fishers, biologists, Elders and community members, Season Two will be anchored in Listuguj but also travel to other Indigenous fisheries in Mi’kmaq territory, such as Gesgapegiag, Que., Eel River Bar, N.B., and Sipekne’katik, N.S. It will continue to showcase life on the water, the science and conservation efforts being put forward, and the history, culture, and community of the Mi’gmagi.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land is co-executive produced by Ernest Webb (Cree) and Greg Lawrence, produced by Lisa M. Roth. Season 2 combines the directing talent of Ernest Webb, Greg Lawrence, and Courtney Montour (Mohawk). In season 2, Heather Condo (Mi’gmaq) returns as Director Trainee and April Maloney (Mi’kmaq) comes on board as director of photography trainee, with the support of the ISO-Netflix Indigenous Production Apprenticeship Program.

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Reality, Lifestyle & Documentary

Rezolution Pictures’ GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land, set in Mi’gmaq fishing community, debuts February 11 & 13 on APTN

From a media release:

Rezolution Pictures has announced the debut of the first season of APN’s original series GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land, a 13-part half-hour documentary series about the Mi’gmaq fishers of Listuguj, Que., who make their living on the nearby waters harvesting salmon, crab, lobster and shrimp. While the series takes a lighthearted approach to life in Listuguj, it also provides a First Nations perspective on how a commercial fishing industry – one that was born out of violence and defiance – grew to be a key economic and cultural support for the community. Shooting began in the fall of 2018, but the subject has become topical as the conflict between Nova Scotia’s Mi’gmaq and non-Indigenous commercial fishers continues in southwest Nova Scotia.

The series will premiere in Mi’gmaq on Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. CT on aptn n and on Feb. 18 at 7 a.m. ET on aptn e/hd and 7 a.m. MT on aptn w.
The English premiere will be on Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m. ET on aptn e/hd, 7 p.m. CT on aptn n and 7 p.m. MT on aptn w.

Set against the beautiful backdrop of Canada’s world-renowned Gaspé Peninsula region in Quebec, GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land is fast-paced, funny and intimate. Experience a devotional journey with the fishers of Listuguj as they battle long days and nights on the water. The community of Listuguj is a small but feisty reserve on the border of Quebec and New Brunswick. Their success has been hard won over the years: clashes with police, raids and court cases all played a role in the birth and development of the humble fishery that is now a multi-million-dollar enterprise. Everything here has a connection to fishing, from self-governance and environmental sustainability, to bringing back the annual powwow and the Mi’gmaq language to younger generations.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land is a character-driven documentary series that explores the intergenerational sacrifice, dedication, and the heart of the Mi’gmaq fishers on the east coast of Canada. Tune into this compelling and dynamic series that glimpses into a region and culture rarely seen on television, in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

APTN has confirmed the development of the second season of GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land.

GESPE’GEWA’GI: The Last Land is co-executive produced and co-directed by Ernest Webb and Greg Lawrence, produced by Lisa M. Roth. It also introduces director trainee Heather Condo, who directed the Wapikoni short film, “My Father’s Tools” which screened at Sundance and festivals around the world.

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