Vision Maker series features shorts by young filmmakers

First People, First Stories, a new public TV series from Vision Maker Media, takes viewers into Native American communities through short films produced by early-career Native American creative talents. 

The series draws from films produced by participants in VMM’s filmmaker development initiatives, including a fellowship that provides mentorship and financial support for young creators. To create broadcast-length episodes, VMM packaged the shorts with films it acquired from independent Native American filmmakers.

American Public Television’s Exchange service will release the first season into national distribution in May. 

VMM CEO Francene Blythe-Lewis said First People, First Stories authentically depicts contemporary life in Native communities, as experienced by young people. The series also aims to represent the diversity of Native American communities across the U.S.

“How many people in the world, or in the United States, will ever make it to the Blackfeet Reservation in Montana?” Blythe-Lewis said. “These stories really bring you right in there, so that you feel almost side by side with the storyteller, as if you’re the guest visitor invited by the storytellers to come and spend time with them in their communities.”

Since its founding 50 years ago, the Nebraska-based public media organization has supported filmmakers representing over 400 North American Tribal communities. 

Focus on filmmaker development

In 2020, VMM began to invest in filmmaker development for young talents. Its Native Youth Media Project partners with Native organizations to provide training and support for aspiring media makers. The Creative Shorts Fellowship provides mentorship and other support to emerging Native American filmmakers as they create their own projects. Through the fellowship, VMM has funded five to 10 short films annually, Blythe-Lewis said.  

“We’ve been seeing these films come out and . . . doing really well in film festivals,” Blythe-Lewis said. “Even before then, I was just astounded by the creativity of these stories.”

“The Love for the Game,” a dramatic film short by filmmaker Josiah Jones, is featured in the series’ second episode. Jones is a citizen of the Chickasaw Nation with Apache, Choctaw, Ohkay Owingeh, Kiowa and Winnebago heritage. He completed the short through the fellowship, which paired him with filmmaker Jeremy Charles and provided $25,000 in production funding. 

The film, about a former basketball star who lost his love of the game, reflects Jones’ upbringing as a Native person who lives in an urban area. “I wrote that story just based on the communities I grew up in: [the] Holdenville, Wewoka Seminole area in Oklahoma,” he said in an interview. 

“Native people from different tribes all have their unique characteristics and stories that all need to be heard,” Jones added. The authenticity and the diversity of Native experiences represented in First People, First Stories makes the series a good fit for public television. 

“Though we’re all Native American, it is cool to see what makes us special in each of our tribes,” Jones said.

‘First perspective’

VMM posts shorts created by its fellows on its YouTube channel and also presents them at film festival screenings. Everything Is Connected, a VMM festival that launched in January, is presenting films online and at in-person screenings at a theatre in Lincoln, Neb.  

The quality of shorts created by VMM fellows prompted VMM to seek other platforms to showcase their work. The films vary in length and weren’t intended for public television, but the positive reception prompted VMM to explore how they could be adapted for broadcasting, Blythe-Lewis said.

“We decided, ‘We’re gonna create this series,’” she added. VMM’s solution was to package two shorts into each 30-minute episode. 

VMM also acquired independently produced shorts by other Native filmmakers to include in the series. Each offers a fresh and contemporary perspective on the Native American experience, Blythe-Lewis said. 

“What I find in the films is a real first perspective: being almost side-by-side with these storytellers or these filmmakers in their own communities, their own personal experiences,” Blythe-Lewis said. 

Season two in the works

The first season of First People, First Stories consists of two 30-minute episodes. Blythe-Lewis plans to release a second season in the fall.

“Right now, I would like to keep it to two episodes each season as we build this out,” she said. “We have to gauge how much audiences really like it, and also … the interest of these young, emerging filmmakers.”

VMM used the last of its CPB funding to acquire additional shorts for the series, Blythe-Lewis added. To finance acquisitions for future episodes, VMM is seeking funding from philanthropies and major donors who are interested in supporting Native youth. 

“We’re really hopeful that stations will really pick it up and air this series nationwide,” Blythe-Lewis said.