EAGLE VISION
Celebrating over two decades since its founding by Lisa Meeches, Anishinaabe from Long Plain First Nation, Sandy Bay First Nation, and Ebb and Flow First Nation, Eagle Vision is the most prolific production company in Canadian history with Indigenous ownership. Eagle Vision has produced content from the Oscar-winning feature CAPOTE, to the international hit factual television series ICE ROAD TRUCKERS (History/AETV International), to the 2021 CSA Best Drama Series Nominee BURDEN OF TRUTH (CBC/CW/Netflix, starring Kristin Kreuk), to the socially impactful CBC/APTN true-crime series TAKEN, to Canada's longest-running Indigenous series THE SHARING CIRCLE. In the past year, Eagle Vision released several feature films, including the sequel to the hit horror film Orphan, ORPHAN: FIRST KILL; Madison Thomas' Emmy Award and CSA Award-winning feature doc BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: CARRY IT ON and Madison Thomas' feature drama FINALITY OF DUSK; Deco Dawson's drama feature DIASPORA, and Dinae Robinson's feature docs TRUE STORY PART ONE (nominated for a Banff Rockie and Best Doc at Red Nation International Film Festival) and TRUE STORY PART TWO for Corus. Other recent releases include Danis Goulet's feature film NIGHT RAIDERS with Taika Waititi executive producing; the new APTN factual series 7TH GEN (renewed for an upcoming third season); the hit Bell/APTN comedy series DJ BURNT BANNOCK; SKYMED for Paramount+, CBC, and CBS Studios; and Canada's first original series for Snapchat, RECLAIM(ED), which was nominated for a Banff Rockie. Currently, Eagle Vision is in post on the comedy feature DEANER '89.
Partners Lisa Meeches, Kyle Irving, and Rebecca Gibson have produced more than 250 hours of content. Together they were honoured with the 2022 Banff World Media Festival's Innovative Producer Award. They and their projects have been the recipients of 5 Oscar Nominations (1 win), a Golden Globe win, 5 BAFTA nominations (1 win), 44 Gemini/CSA nominations (11 wins), 5 Shorty Award nominations (2 Wins), a Banff Rockie Award (and 2 additional nominations) amongst several other prestigious awards. Working in the digital and podcast space, they were honoured for the innovative, international-award-winning #SacredMMIWG campaign, which reached over 1/3 of all Canadians.
Eagle Vision has always been committed to gender parity, inclusion, and accessibility. The team is invested in emerging artists, supporting a diverse talent pool whose work will have a global and lasting impact. Eagle Vision's rich development slate, representing comedy, drama, features, series, factual and narrative, has the support of top funders and broadcasters. Working with leading content creators, Eagle Vision's team develops the shows they want to watch, with forward-thinking market awareness and the highest quality of content.
Eagle Vision tackles challenging issues. The residential school system (WE WERE CHILDREN — Banff Rockie and Canadian Screen Awards winner). The impact of mental illness on relationships (LOVESICK — winner of the Audience Choice Award at Cinequest, currently on Amazon Prime). The American political system (BLUE STATE - distributed by MGM). Eagle Vision also produces live music specials (including ten seasons of the ABORIGINAL PEOPLE'S CHOICE MUSIC AWARDS, rebranded to the INDIGENOUS MUSIC AWARDS), and made-for-TV movies (including the award-winning JACK and ELIJAH) to the best in children's film and television (Parents' Choice Gold Medal winner TIPI TALES). Content enjoyed by fans around the world. Eagle Vision is a Manitoba-based, Canadian production company located at the heart of the continent of North America, near the sacred and ancient Manito Ahbee site, in a rich, multi-faceted landscape with a diverse population in the province of Manitoba. With strong partnerships in Canada and around the world, with a varied slate, and with a devotion to developing the most outstanding new talent, Eagle Vision is poised to continue to create content that creates change.
FILM
FINALITY OF DUSK
released in 2023, is an intersectional futurism drama set in the year 2072, amidst environmental devastation, Ishkode, an Ojibwe woman, and her unlikely companion Niife, a Nigerian climate refugee, join forces on what is left of the land to save themselves by protecting each other. Directed by Madison Thomas, and co-written with Thomas and Katarina Ziervogel.
DIASPORA
is filmmaker Deco Dawson's feature debut, which premiered at Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, and has been winning awards around the world. Arriving in Winnipeg’s North End in search of a better, safer life, young Ukrainian immigrant Eva finds a city filled with run-down, outdated establishments. She also discovers a number of other culturally-diverse immigrants, all in search of a new life.
BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: CARRY IT ON
is director Madison Thomas' in-depth look at the life of the activist and musician, with archival material never seen before, with present-day footage of Buffy performing and sharing her own story in her own words, with the help of many other voices from the music and Indigenous communities, including Joni Mitchell, Robbie Robertson, Alanis Obomsawin, Jeremy Dutcher, and Bird Runningwater. Multi-award-winning, the film recently won an International Emmy Award.
ORPHAN: FIRST KILL
was released in the fall of 2022 on Paramount+, starring Isabelle Fuhrman, reprising her role from the hit film Orphan. After escaping from a psychiatric facility in Estonia, Esther travels to America by impersonating the missing daughter of a wealthy family. Yet, an unexpected twist arises that pits her against a mother who will protect her family at any cost.
NIGHT RAIDERS
is writer/director Danis Goulet’s first feature, executive produced by Taika Waititi. Set in a post-war future, a mother joins an underground band of vigilantes to try and rescue her daughter from a state-run institution. It premiered at Berlinale and had its North American premiere at TIFF, where Danis Goulet won the Emerging Talent Award. Won the Grand Prix Focus at the Festival du nouveau cinéma, and was acquired for US distribution by Samuel Goldwyn Films.
LOVESICK
is distributed by Entertainment One, and sold to Amazon Prime in the States. Written and directed by Tyson Caron, Lovesick stars Jacob Tierney (Letterkenny), Jessica Paré (SEAL Team, Mad Men), and Jay Baruchel (End of the World, How to Train Your Dragon). Lovesick tells the story of Dash, a thirty-something, depressed mural artist who goes on a journey of self-discovery when his ex gets engaged to a man she barely knows.
REASONABLE DOUBT
had a US theatrical release in 2014 by Lionsgate. Starring Samuel L. Jackson and Dominic Cooper, Reasonable Doubt is a thriller that tells the story of a district attorney who has his life turned upside down when he’s involved in a hit and run and another man is arrested for his crime and charged with murder.
WE WERE CHILDREN
is a feature film championed by APTN and the NFB. We Were Children shows the profound impact of the Canadian government’s residential school system conveyed through the voices of two survivors. As young children, Lyna and Glen were taken from their homes and placed in church-run boarding schools, where they suffered years of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, the effects of which persist in their adult lives. This true story gives voice to a national tragedy and demonstrates the incredible resilience of the human spirit. The film went on to win a Banff Rockie Award and receive 4 CSA nominations and 2 wins.
WALK ALL OVER ME
stars two-time Golden Globe nominee Leelee Sobieski, Jacob Tierney, and Ford Supermodel of the World, Battlestar Galactica star Tricia Helfer. Walk All Over Me is a feature film co-production with Alberta’s Chaos a film company. Walk All Over Me had its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2007, where it was the first-ever Canadian film sold to the Weinstein Company.
BLUE STATE
had its world premiere at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival. Blue State is an indie film about a disgruntled Democrat who follows through on a drunken campaign promise to move to Canada if George “Dubya” Bush gets re-elected. Blue State stars Academy Award winner Anna Paquin and Breckin Meyer. MGM purchased the film for worldwide distribution.
CAPOTE
was a co-production with Infinity Features, United Artists, and Sony Pictures. Capote was nominated for five Academy Awards and BAFTA Awards, including Best Picture. Capote won the Oscar for Best Actor for Phillip Seymour Hoffman’s performance. Eagle Vision is proud to have been a co-production company on the film.
TELEVISION
TRUE STORY (PART ONE & PART TWO)
are Dinae Robinson’s feature docs that share the history of Indigenous peoples in Canada, from creation stories, to the Indian Act, to present day. These are the first and only documentaries commissioned by History Channel/Corus featuring Indigenous historians and knowledge keepers from across Turtle Island. Part One was nominated for a Banff Rockie Award.
RECLAIM(ED)
is Canada's first original series for Snapchat, a 5X10 minute factual show with hosts Marika Sila and Kairyn Potts, following them across the country as they meet with members of several Indigenous communities and work with them to reframe and reclaim cultural traditions and social issues. Nominated for a Banff Rockie Award.
SKYMED
Eagle Vision partnered with Piazza Entertainment to produce Skymed for Paramount+, CBC, and CBS Studios. The new series revolves around life, death and drama at 20,000 feet. It weaves together intense character journeys and high-stakes medical rescues, as we follow the triumphs, heartbreaks and tribulations of budding nurses and pilots flying air ambulances in remote Northern Canada.
7TH GEN
a new series for APTN now in post for its third season, is a celebration of young Indigenous leaders from across the country who are doing incredible things despite the obstacles they've faced. This 10 X 30 minute episode premiered in 2022, with an accompanying Cree version, and 25 part Cree language-learning web series.
DJ BURNT BANNOCK
is a hit series for APTNLumi, supported by the Bell Fund, created by, written by, and starring Darcy Waite as Kevin Cardinal, a Cree DJ who realizes that if he is going to achieve the success he dreams of, he needs to make a mega move to prove to the world, and himself, that he is seriously talented. Too bad he’s about to do it all wrong. Also starring Paul Rabliauskas, Joy Keeper, and Genie Baffoe.
BURDEN OF TRUTH
Eagle Vision partnered with eOne and ICF for this 34 X 1-hour legal drama. Big-city lawyer Joanna Hanley (Kristin Kreuk) returns to her hometown to take a case that changes her career path and her life. Burden of Truth premiered in January 2018 on CBC in Canada and was a summer hit for The CW and Hulu in the US. It premiered #1 for Universal UK. Recently, the first three seasons became hits on Netflix, and Season IV premiered on CBC. Nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards, Best Lead Actor, Drama Series (Peter Mooney, twice), Actress - Continuing Lead Dramatic Role (Kristin Kreuk, twice), and current Best Drama Series Nominee.
TAKEN
is the award-winning true crime series centered on solving the mysteries behind missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada. For four seasons, Taken crossed the nation to get to the heart of the stories of these women and girls. The goal is to solve these crimes. The Taken Knowledge Keeper App is available for iOS and Android on the App Store and Google Play. A new Taken podcast series is available on all podcast platforms. Awards include the Beyond Borders ECPAT Media Award, which recognizes journalists who raise awareness about child sexual exploitation, nominated for four Canadian Screen Awards (Best Factual Series, Best Cross-Platform Project, Best Editorial Research, Best Score), a Global Accolade Award, Official election Cinema New York City Festival, nominated for Best Documentary Series at the Yorkton Film Festival, and Signature Award for Best Public Service Announcement for the resource-rich Taken Website.
ICE ROAD TRUCKERS
is a documentary series that follows the activities of drivers who operate trucks on seasonal routes crossing frozen lakes and rivers in remote territories in Canada. Seen on History Channel in Canada and the States, the show is broadcast in more than 100 countries around the world. Ice Road Truckers premiered season 11 to record-high ratings.
JACK
is a 90-minute movie for CBC television that tells the story of Jack Layton’s last federal election campaign in 2011 and his tragic passing only weeks later due to cancer. Jack is a co-production between Pier 21 Films and Eagle Vision Inc. Entertainment One distributed the film. The film went on to receive Canadian Screen Awards for Actor and Actress - Leading Role in a Dramatic Program/Mini-Series, and was nominated for Best Make-Up.
ELIJAH
is a made-for-TV movie produced for CTV and APTN. Eagle Vision co-produced with Anagram Pictures. Elijah is the true story of Elijah Harper, one of the greatest heroes in Canadian political history. The film has played to film festival audiences at the 2007 Calgary International Film Festival, the 2007 Vancouver International Film Festival, and the 2007 imagineNATIVE Film Festival. The film went on to win the Gemini for Best TV Movie, and Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, and was nominated for Best Sound in a Dramatic Program. It was also nominated for and won several Leo Awards.
THE SPIRIT OF NORWAY HOUSE
is a one-hour documentary about hydro development in Northern Manitoba and its impact on the people of Norway House First Nation. This spectacular doc features some of the best pre-contact reenactments ever created and was acquired by APTN and SCN.
THE SHARING CIRCLE
is Canada's longest running Indigenous series (16 seasons). The Sharing Circle is an award-winning celebration of life documentary series that embraces people from all races and cultures with a focus on Indigenous culture.
TIPI TALES
is a half-hour preschool children’s series that has been the proud recipient of three prestigious Parents’ Choice Awards, and a Blizzard Award. Centered around four cousins who spend their days together with their wise, fun great-grandparents and the sacred animals of the forest, Tipi Tales offers life lessons to preschool children based on the Seven Sacred Teachings of Anishinaabe culture.
INDIGENOUS MUSIC AWARDS / APCMAS
The IMAs (formerly the APCMAs, and rebranded for its 10th anniversary) is a revolutionary music award show developed by Eagle Vision and APTN to honour the best in Indigenous music. Hosted by Lorne Cardinal (Corner Gas), the live awards show features humour, dance, music, and celebrates international Indigenous artists.
WE JOGGIN’ 06 and 07
We Joggin' is a unique, multi-lingual performance variety program that celebrates the human spirit through song, dance, and laugher. Award-winning artists of national recognition share the stage with emerging First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and Francophone performers. APTN was a proud partner for the show.
CELEBRATE: THE MUSIC OF OUR PEOPLE
is a one-hour variety program showcasing the best of Indigenous music and dance from across Canada. Broadcasters for this project are BRAVO and APTN.
RISING STARS
is a two-hour variety show broadcast by APTN that features emerging Indigenous musical performances and interviews with acts that include APCMA nominees Jasmine Netseena and Ghostkeeper. APCMA winners George Leech and Crystal Shawanda host Rising Stars.
KYLE RIABKO: THE LEAD
follows Kyle Riabko as he takes a detour from his dream of becoming a rock star to take over for Jonathan Groff (Frozen, Mindhunter) in the lead role of the Tony Award-winning musical Spring Awakening. Featuring unprecedented Broadway access, the show also shares the impact of Spring Awakening on some audience members’ real lives. This documentary captures the essence of the power of contemporary theatre.
POLYGAMY’S LOST BOYS
Polygamy's Lost Boys is a one-hour documentary that follows three young men as they struggle to survive a world which they were raised to believe is wicked when they leave a polygamous sect of the Mormon church.
