It is hardly an understatement to say that Netflix is one of, if not the most significant company in the 21st century. Originally a subscription based DVD service, Netflix transitioned to a streaming based subscription service model. This shift to signaled the death knoll for brick and mortar DVD rental stores, such as Blockbuster, VHS, and Movie Gallery. In 2012, Netflix started producing original content, with some of the most notables being The Crown, Narcos, and Orange is the New Black. With the Crown being hailed the second most expensive show ever produced (the first being Game of Thrones) and Orange is the New Black as being the most watched original series on Netflix, it is no surprise that this behemoth company is always scouting out new ways to enter the entertainment arena.
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In June of 2019 Netflix announced their partnerships with 3 Indigenous cultural organizations within Canada. The partnerships are with ImagineNATIVE, the Indigenous Screen Office, and Wapikoni Mobile. This partnership is part of a $25-million commitment Netflix made to help foster and develop talent of Canadian creators over the next five years. But who are these organizations and why has Netflix sought them out to create content?
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| Still of "In pursuit of Venus [infected]," by Lisa Reihana, currently on at the AGO. Source. |
ImagineNATIVE is a multi-media Toronto based company who hosts an annual film festival in Toronto. I am very familiar with ImagineNATIVE and, I bet, if you are in the Toronto Area you are too! Their most recent partnership with the Art Gallery of Ontario is responsible for bringing Lisa Reihana’s William Kentridge-esque “In pursuit of Venus [infected]” to the Mclean centre for Indigenous and Canadian Art at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Other exhibitions and arts programming from ImagineNATIVE include:
iNDigital Expanded, Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space
Constructive Interference, A Space Gallery
gathering across moana, Trinity Space Video, A Space WINDOWS,
Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre
Listen, speak and sing, Prefix ICA
spatial codifications, YYZ Artists’ Outlet
Among All These Tundras, Onsite Gallery
and various artists’ talks and art crawls around Toronto
I am much less familiar with Indigenous Screen Office and Wapikoni Mobile. After a quick Google search I found out that the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) is a relatively new organization. Founded in 2017, ISO is dedicated to developing Indigenous screen storytellers. The organization aims to bring Indigenous stories to the screen, because they see the value of having Indigenous representation in artistic media.
Wapikoni Mobile is a traveling studio for training and audiovisual creation of indigenous stories, community and land. This mobile studio is fully equipped with cutting-edge technology that travels to communities all over the world and since its inceptions 5,000 participants have been trained in documentary film or musical recording. Wapikoni Mobile has been a part of 1,145 films and 750 musical recordings (thus far!) and since 2004 their media has received 170 awards and distinctions at festivals around the world.
These partnerships are significant. According to Thomas King “Hollywood has had a long-standing love affair with [Indigenous Peoples].” This relationship between Indigenous peoples and Hollywood worked to cobble together a series of clichés of Indigenous peoples that continue to pervade the social conscious of North American society to this day. Netflix partnership and commitment in the form of dollars with Indigenous organizations, that are committed to authentic representation, works to dismantles these clichés. I don’t think it is a stretch to state the Netflix is how most of us (myself included) are consuming our television shows and movies and in the coming years it seems Indigenous representation on the big and small screen is going to be easier to access. I for one am I very excited to see what content these partnerships will create!
What are you binging right now? I want to know! Send me an email (allyforand@gmail.com), or if Twitter and Instagram are more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.
Constructive Interference, A Space Gallery
gathering across moana, Trinity Space Video, A Space WINDOWS,
Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre
Listen, speak and sing, Prefix ICA
spatial codifications, YYZ Artists’ Outlet
Among All These Tundras, Onsite Gallery
and various artists’ talks and art crawls around Toronto
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| Indigenous Afterdark at the 2012 Vancouver Indigenous Media Arts Festival (VIMAF) Source. |
I am much less familiar with Indigenous Screen Office and Wapikoni Mobile. After a quick Google search I found out that the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) is a relatively new organization. Founded in 2017, ISO is dedicated to developing Indigenous screen storytellers. The organization aims to bring Indigenous stories to the screen, because they see the value of having Indigenous representation in artistic media.
Wapikoni Mobile is a traveling studio for training and audiovisual creation of indigenous stories, community and land. This mobile studio is fully equipped with cutting-edge technology that travels to communities all over the world and since its inceptions 5,000 participants have been trained in documentary film or musical recording. Wapikoni Mobile has been a part of 1,145 films and 750 musical recordings (thus far!) and since 2004 their media has received 170 awards and distinctions at festivals around the world.
Plus que 2 jours avant la #JournéeDesInuit à la @MaisonDRegions 🙌— Wapikoni mobile (@Wapikoni) November 5, 2019
Il reste encore quelques places mais faites vite 😉
On a hâte de vous compter parmi nous pour échanger sur les questions environnementales et la culture inuit
Billets ➡️ https://t.co/KtiRjv5SSj pic.twitter.com/CAu73ucqG7
These partnerships are significant. According to Thomas King “Hollywood has had a long-standing love affair with [Indigenous Peoples].” This relationship between Indigenous peoples and Hollywood worked to cobble together a series of clichés of Indigenous peoples that continue to pervade the social conscious of North American society to this day. Netflix partnership and commitment in the form of dollars with Indigenous organizations, that are committed to authentic representation, works to dismantles these clichés. I don’t think it is a stretch to state the Netflix is how most of us (myself included) are consuming our television shows and movies and in the coming years it seems Indigenous representation on the big and small screen is going to be easier to access. I for one am I very excited to see what content these partnerships will create!
What are you binging right now? I want to know! Send me an email (allyforand@gmail.com), or if Twitter and Instagram are more your speed my handle on both is @Ally_but_online.
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