Netflix announces new partnership to support the next generation of Indigenous creators in Canada

Netflix made an important announcement at the 2019 Banff World Media Festival today.

The streaming service has partnered with three Indigenous cultural organizations to support and develop the next generation of Indigenous creators across Canada.

The partnerships are with imagineNATIVE, the Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) and Wapikoni Mobile and it’ll offer programs from screenwriting intensives to apprenticeship programs.

“Indigenous communities in Canada are rich with unique stories, and organizations like imagineNATIVE, the ISO and Wapikoni Mobile are vital to ensuring these voices are heard,” said Stéphane Cardin, director of public policy, Netflix Canada.

“Netflix is proud to help launch these three programs, which will reach Indigenous communities across the country.”

ImagineNATIVE is the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous-made screen content and presents the annual imagineNATIVE Film and Media Festival in Toronto.

The ISO has a mission of fostering Indigenous narrative sovereignty on screen, which means all content produced is both owned and controlled by Indigenous creators.

Wapikoni Mobile is a mobile intervention, training and creative studio for Indigenous youth with a mission of amplifying the voices of the Indigenous generation through film and music.

All three organizations expressed excitement about the new partnership with Netflix and the opportunities that it’ll afford them.