LISA MEECHES
President, Founding Partner, Executive Producer
Member of the Order of Canada and Order of Manitoba, Lisa Meeches is one of the most dynamic and respected producers in the film industry and is Anishinaabe from Long Plain First Nation, Sandy Bay First Nation, and Ebb and Flow First Nation. After studying broadcasting in North Dakota, Lisa began her career in 1986 with the Native Media Network. She later began news reporting for Craig Broadcasting Systems in Manitoba and Alberta, where she established a liaison team that connected the newsroom with surrounding First Nations communities. Her journalism career recently came full circle with a Beyond Borders Media Award for her work on Taken as co-creator, executive producer, and host. Lisa also directs episodes of the series and has been nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards for Taken (Best Factual Series, Best Cross-Platform Project).
Lisa has produced numerous projects to critical acclaim including The Sharing Circle, Canada’s longest-running Indigenous television series; Ice Road Truckers; Tipi Tales, a Parent’s Choice award-winning children’s series; and Elijah, a Gemini Award-winning MOW; and the 3-times nominated 2-time winner of CSA’s Jack. She Executive Produced the 4-time CSA nominee and 2-time winner We Were Children, is widely praised by residential school survivors for its power to heal, while general audiences have been moved by its accurate and truthful portrayal of the impacts of Canada’s colonial past. Prior to this project, Lisa travelled the country with her team interviewing residential school survivors about their experiences for the Legacy of Hope project. Lisa was also the Director, Events Planning and Artistic Programming for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Most recently Lisa served as Creative Director/Executive Producer for the National MMIWG Inquiry. Her work was honoured with two gold medals at the international Shorty Awards for excellence in social media. Lisa is Co-Executive Producer on the CBC/eOne/CW series Burden of Truth, in production on Season 4.
Lisa has been critical to the success of the Manito Ahbee Festival since its inception 15 years ago where she has acted in the capacity of board chair on a volunteer basis until stepping down to assume the role of Executive Director. True to her heritage, Lisa is a renowned champion fancy shawl dancer. Lisa is Executive Producer of Orange Daisy Project, a social action campaign in support of mental health for teen girls. Among her numerous awards and nominations are: the 2007 National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media & Communication, the 2009 YMCA-YWCA Woman of Distinction Award in the area of Creative Communications, the University of Manitoba's Excellence in Aboriginal Business Leadership Award, the Women in Film and Television 2009 Crystal Award for Mentorship, and Ms. Chatelaine. Lisa was honoured as a 2020 Trailblazer at the Reelworld Film Festival.
KYLE IRVING
Partner, Head of Production, Executive Producer
A partner in Indigenous-owned Eagle Vision, Kyle Irving has produced more than 230 hours of film and television content in 20 years. He’s currently executive producing a fourth season of Eagle Vision, ICF and eOne’s drama series Burden of Truth starring Kristin Kreuk for CBC, The CW, Hulu and Universal UK. He is an executive producer on Orphan: First Kill starring Julia Stiles, the feature film prequel to the hit film Orphan with eOne and Dark Castle Entertainment. He is executive producing a new doc series that he co-created called 7th Gen for APTN.
Kyle executive produced Night Raiders written and directed by Danis Goulet and executive produced with Taika Waititi, and produced Diaspora written and directed by two-time TIFF winner Deco Dawson. Both films are currently in post-production and due to be released in 2021. Kyle will be producing the new Madison Thomas feature film Finality of Dusk in the spring of 2021.
Irving has produced numerous other award-winning feature film productions, notably: Oscar winner and nominee for Best Picture Capote with Sony, Walk All Over Me with the WC, Blue State starring Anna Paquin with MGM, the multi-award-winning We Were Children, Reasonable Doubt starring Samuel L Jackson with Lionsgate and Lovesick starring Jay Baruchel with eOne.
Irving also executive produced Ice Road Truckers, one of the most successful and longest-running docudrama series in television history for History Channel, AETN, and 80+ countries around the world.
Collectively, Irving’s productions have been nominated for thirteen Canadian Screen Awards with four wins, five Oscar’s with one win, five BAFTA’s with one win, five Independent Spirit Awards with three wins, one Golden Globe win, a Banff Rockie Award win, and five Shorty Awards with two wins and one Cinequest audience choice award.
Some of Irving’s other television productions include Jack, a made-for-TV movie for CBC; the award-winning long-running doc series The Sharing Circle; the multiple Parents’ Choice Gold Award-winning children’s series Tipi Tales; and numerous one-off documentaries.
Having worked in the Indigenous community with his business partner Lisa Meeches for nearly twenty years Irving has a strong focus on championing under-represented talent development and has mentored and supported numerous emerging writers, directors, producers and crew. He is also a strong supporter financially and in-kind to independent films.
Irving has a strong focus on talent development and has mentored and supported numerous emerging writers, directors, producers, and crew. He is also a strong supporter financially and in-kind to independent films. Irving is a sponsor and facilitator of the Whistler Film Festival Indigenous Filmmakers Fellowship. Irving is a member of the Board of Directors of the CMPA and is on the executive as the Vice-Chair, Industrial Relations. He is a member of the Board of Directors of On Screen Manitoba and has been an industry leader in the province's and nation's COVID protocols for production getting this important $14 billion industry back to work.
REBECCA GIBSON
Partner, Head of Development, Executive Producer
Following graduation from the New York Film Academy, a CFTPA International Internship took Rebecca to Los Angeles at the start of her film journey. As a writer, director, and producer, Rebecca’s work includes the digital documentary series Child First, which premiered at the Understanding the Disability Trajectory of First Nations Families of Children with Disabilities National Summit, the doc Daphne Korol: The Drama Queen of Winnipeg, and the award-winning short comedy Hard Way Girl, which played festivals around the world. Rebecca co-wrote and produced the award-winning drama H&G which premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and is distributed by Multiple Media in Canada and Amazon Prime in the United States and Europe. H&G was recently honoured with a retrospective screening at the TIFF Lightbox. Rebecca founded Orange Daisy Project, a social action campaign in support of mental health for teen girls, that includes a 40-part digital documentary series, a mentorship for emerging female filmmakers, a school and community tour, and a best-selling mental health workbook, which Rebecca co-wrote. Rebecca was honoured nationally as a CAMH Difference Maker, and was ACTRA Manitoba's 2018 Woman of the Year. Rebecca’s acting credits include her award-winning work in the film that launched The Murdoch Mysteries, her ACTRA-award-winning role in The Pinkertons (Netflix), and the recent Juliana and the Medicine Fish opposite Adam Beach. Rebecca plays "Bee" in Tyson Caron's film Lovesick, and "Wendy Ross" on Burden of Truth. She can currently be seen in Jeremy Torrie’s thriller The Corruption of Divine Providence which recently had its premiere at the Reelworld Film Festival.
Rebecca was co-creator, showrunner executive producer, and an award-winning episode writer and director of Eagle Vision's Taken. She won a Beyond Borders Media Award and was nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards — Best Factual Series, the Barbara Sears Award for Best Editorial Research, and Best Cross-Platform Project. She was project lead on the Taken Knowledge Keeper App. Most recently, Rebecca was part of the Eagle Vision team who were honoured as finalists for five international Shorty Awards (the best of the world’s social media), winning gold distinction for two. Rebecca also writes and directs the Taken podcast. Formerly one of Western Canada’s top casting directors, Rebecca also oversees casting for many of Eagle Vision’s projects.
Rebecca is devoted to mentorship, working with the CMPA (member of Skills Development and TV committees), Film Training Manitoba, Freeze Frame, Women in the Director’s Chair, Women in View, Creative Manitoba, and several other organizations to support diverse artists of all ages in film, television, and theatre, and various charitable and social organizations. She also co-founded the Gimli Film Festival's Future is Female* Mentorship Program.
Rebecca is proud to lead Eagle Vision's diverse, exciting development slate.
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HANNAH JOHNSON
Producer, Head of Business Affairs
Hannah Johnson Eagle Vision’s Head of Business Affairs, and In House Producer. Hannah graduated on the Dean’s Honour List from Queen’s University specializing in Psychology and Gender Studies. Her focus on intersectional social issues and human rights is something she applies to her career and all aspects of her life.
Hannah most recently worked as a Producer and Production Manager on four seasons of Eagle Vision’s series Taken. She has worked with Eagle Vision and Manito Ahbee for several years, as a Production Manager and Production Coordinator for the Indigenous Music Awards. Hannah also has Production Coordinator credits on Ice Road Truckers, Aboriginal Day Live, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights’ Opening Ceremonies & Concert, and The United Way’s One Night for Winnipeg Concert. Hannah worked as an event coordinator and stage manager for Manito Ahbee’s Celebrate Indigenous Music Concert. She helped coordinate the WITBN Kanata Conferences & WIJA Gala, a biennial conference to share experiences in broadcast media, encouraging communication and cultural preservation among Indigenous Media Worldwide. She also ran the Canadian Education Coalition’s event, The Winnipeg Boldness Project and worked on the TRC’s Northern & Alberta National Events.
Hannah was Line Producer of the feature film Ruthless Souls which recently premiered at ImagineNATIVE. Hannah is the Associate Producer on Burden of Truth for CBC and The CW starring Kristin Kreuk. Hannah recently served as Project Manager for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls Inquiry Project: Red Shawl Campaign and Truth Sharing Podcast Project for the Government of Canada, which reached one-third of all Canadians. Hannah has produced seasons 1 and 2 of the web series Frozen Justice and was Producer, Director, Writer, and Editor on the web series Orange Daisy Project documentary series about teenage girls’ mental health. Hannah also directed a Skate Canada Documentary featuring the NHL’s Mark Scheifele. Hannah was also a Production Assistant on the Ray St. Germain family documentary, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Alberta and Northern National Events; House Concerts on Kingston; and the Ballsy Bastards of St.Boniface documentary. Hannah is also a devoted volunteer, including serving as the Event Coordinator & Committee Member for Beyond Borders ECPAT Canada, Canada’s global voice against child sexual exploitation. Hannah was selected as the recipient of the 2020 CBC Business of Broadcasting Mentorship through Women In Film and Television Toronto, of which she is a member. In 2019 Hannah completed the CMPA Emerging Producer Mission to Berlinale.
DARCY WAITE
Producer
Darcy Waite, founder of Turtle Mountain Media, is one of Canada’s fastest rising producers and content creators. Darcy recently joined the Board of Directors of the CMPA.
He recently produced his first feature film through Telefilm’s Talent to Watch program, Ruthless Souls, which premiered at ImagineNATIVE, and was featured at Berlinale in 2019. Soon Darcy will produce his second Telefilm-supported feature through Eagle Vision, Madison Thomas’ Finality of Dusk.
Darcy produced the award-winning CBC Short Docs film Zaasaakwe which played at the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival. He produced the short Lost Moccasin for APTN, which also played at ImagineNATIVE. Darcy was also Associate Producer on the CBC Short Docs film Fourth Period Burnout. Darcy won the 2017 ImagineNATIVE Web Series Pitch Competition as the Producer of Madison Thomas’ web series Color of Scar Tissue, starring Star Slade, Mary Galloway, and Kaniehtiio Horn. The series premiered at ImagineNATIVE 2018 before airing on APTN Digital. Recently, Darcy won the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival’s Rising Producer Award.
As a writer and director, Darcy focuses on comedy. He was a director shadow on APTN’s sketch comedy series Caution May Contain Nuts season 4. Darcy’s film Case Number ####, supported by the Winnipeg First Film Fund Grant, was an Official Selection of the California American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival and the Los Angeles Skins Festival where it was nominated for Best Narrative Short. In 2018 Darcy’s script Zombie’s Don’t Eat Stupid People was selected for the Whistler Film Festivals Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship Program. He recently teamed up with FUBAR writer Paul Spence to co-write the feature film.
Darcy is a graduate of the National Screen Institute Indigenous Documentary Program and New Voices Program. Recently Darcy completed a CMPA Digital Skills Mentorship with Eagle Vision, and recently completed the CMPA Emerging Producer Mission to Berlinale (reporting to Global Affairs Canada), with fellow producer Hannah Johnson.
Darcy’s web series DJ Burnt Bannock, that he created, wrote, and will star in, was recently greenlit for production by APTN, to be produced by Eagle Vision. Additionally, Darcy will soon host Eagle Vision’s upcoming factual series 7TH GEN. Darcy is already the host of ATPNs hit youth series THAT’S AWSM.
Currently, Darcy is on the writing team of Eagle Vision’s sitcom Family First, with the development support of APTN and the CMF. Family First will star Lorne Cardinal (Corner Gas) and is anticipated to go to camera in summer of 2021. And, Darcy is playing a role in the drama series Burden of Truth.
GINGER DILK
Digital Media and Marketing Producer
Ginger Dilk is Eagle Vision’s Digital Media and Marketing Producer. Her background includes a degree in Filmmaking from the University of Winnipeg, as well as specialized training in Digital Advertising and Social Media Management. She is a dedicated human rights advocate, and her work centers around building and promoting an equitable future for all.
In 2018, Ginger helped lead the award-winning “#SacredMMIWG” digital awareness and education campaign as an Impact Producer for the National Inquiry into MMIWG. The campaign reached 1/3 of all Canadians, was nominated for 5 Shorty Social Good Awards, and received Gold Honours in Human Rights and Social Justice.
Ginger is committed to supporting marginalized groups, particularly in areas of reconciliation and accessibility. Through partnerships with organizations such as Women and Gender Equality Canada, she has marketed Indigenous-led podcasts The Truth Sharing Podcasts and Taken the Podcast to hundreds of thousands. Additionally, she has generated meaningful digital marketing content for multiple seasons of the international hit television series Burden of Truth (ICF Films, Eagle Vision, eOne, CBC). Her content consistently serves to highlight important issues of inter-generational resiliency, community engagement and diverse representation in media.
Ginger sits on the board of On Screen Manitoba and is Co-Chair of the Workforce Development Committee. She is eager to lend her drive and passion to work that will elevate new and existing voices in the industry. She also looks forward to connecting audiences with upcoming Eagle Vision projects, such as Deco Dawson’s highly anticipated feature film Diaspora, set to release 2021.
CYNTHIA MURDOCK
Associate Producer
Cynthia Murdock is an Indigenous filmmaker who is a member of the Fisher River Cree Nation. Cynthia was selected to pitch the digital comedy series DJ Burnt Bannock with creator/
writer/star Darcy Waite at ImagineNATIVE 2019. The series has been picked up by APTN and will go to camera in 2021.
She is a graduate of the National Screen Institute – CBC New Indigenous Voices program. Her internship with Lisa Meeches as Executive Assistant at Manito Ahbee Festival led her to be part of Taken season four.
On Taken, Cynthia served as Production Coordinator, Producer Assistant, and was a Director Mentee. Cynthia wrote and directed an episode of the third season of Taken’s CSA-nominated web series, sharing Tia Pinace-Littlechief’s story of survival.
Cynthia’s passion for filmmaking and storytelling began at an early age when she enrolled in drama classes at a local church and weekly visits to the movie theatre with her family. She was encouraged by her father to read, explore her creativity and to write every day.
Cynthia graduated with a diploma in TV & Radio Broadcasting from the Academy of Broadcasting in 2013. She also participated in Acting Foundations and Script Writing at Prairie Theatre Exchange. Cynthia was recently chosen for the CMPA’s Diversity Mentorship program as a producer. She completed her mentorship with Eagle Vision immediately before giving birth to her first child, her son Warner.
Cynthia was a key member of Eagle Vision's #SacredMMIWG campaign for the Government of Canada’s National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, travelling around Canada to help create digital media and social media content that reached over a third of all Canadians, and was recently honoured with five Shorty Award nominations, and two awards of distinction. Cynthia served as Production Coordinator on Eagle Vision’s upcoming feature film Diaspora.
Cynthia recently produced the short film First Session, the RBC Pitch Competition winner at the 2019 Gimli Film Festival. It had its world premiere at the festival in 2020. She is currently developing the short At the End of Laurel Lane, written by award-winning horror writer Jessica Landry, and to be directed by Sera-Lys McArthur.
Currently, Cynthia is Head Researcher for Eagle Vision's upcoming new series 7TH GEN for APTN. Cynthia is also producing the digital media for the show and will serve as an Associate Producer.
Her career goals are to continue producing, writing, directing, and learning as much as she can about the industry.