May 26, 2023 the Crave and APTN (Lumi) series begins with the first episode of the six-part series, Little Bird. This is the work of several creators, Indigenous story-tellers and show-runner Jennifer Podemski. “I was always excited when Jennifer reached out to me, I am a fan and I know that Ms. Podemski is dedicated to do this important work with accountability, reciprocity and within cultural protocol.” Sara is also a member of the Board of Directors for Jennifer Podemski’s “the Shine Network” organization.
The Little Bird story is powerful and a result of a production that honoured Indigenous story-telling and the fact that entertainment contracts must now accommodate Indigenous forms of respecting ownership as a more limited transaction. Jennifer Podemski ensured that this film was trauma-informed in its production and was a first generation attempt to recognize Indigenous intellectual property protocols, and reciprocity in relationships in order to create a ground-breaking drama like Little Bird. Sara is happy to see a screen credit for her and her law firm JFK Law LLP at the end of the pilot episode.
“As an Anishinaabe lawyer, I am attracted to entertainment law because its such an important part of our collective healing and art has always been so important to our resiliency,” Mainville explains, “It is also so important to the sustainability of my practice to have these bright shiny projects that get to the finish line, unlike the glacial pace of reconciliation and justice in the real world.”
Congratulations to everyone involved in the Little Bird series. For more information on this work, listen to Jennifer Podemski discuss some of these issues and her views on this podcast: Spotify Apple