I have to reply to the editorial and story about Rezolution Pictures from last issue. I want to thank Will for his kind words and his encouragement. I also want to say that I wasn’t expecting any of it. Neil Diamond and I were up in Mistissini shooting the latest Dab Iyiyuu Dramatizations of the elder’s stories. At the beginning of the week we got rained on, actors weren’t showing up and scenes weren’t working out. It was then I questioned why we were doing the program. It felt so superficial at the time. We were planning a long day when the Nation came out at the store in Mistissini. Our Assistant Director Gabriel had gone to town to pick up some things we needed and he picked up the issue of the Nation. We were quite busy at the time and he mentioned the articles that were written about our productions when he got back. I was very curious about what was written but I couldn’t find the magazine on set because it was being passed around to different people. We went about our day filming and getting our scenes ready. As the day wore on I got more curious. We had planned a night shoot so we spent the evening getting the lights ready. It’s a bit tricky to shoot the teepee at night so we took a bit of time getting it right. We finished our scene and started for home at 1:30 am after a 19-hour day. We were shooting up the highway so we had to drive for a bit back to Mistissini. I turned on my flash light to read the editorial. When I finished the article I couldn’t read any more. I had to put the magazine down and turn off the light. I sat there with tears welling up in my eyes.

I cried because all that we did came to me. I remembered people like late Joseph Shecapio-Blacksmith and his partner Chris Covel with their struggle to clean up the mine waste near Ouje Bougoumou. I remembered late William Kawapit from the first series of Dab Iyiyuu. I remembered the kids we cast in our dramatizations and the puzzled look they gave when we told them we were doing Chikapaash. They said “Who’s that?” I remembered all the people we had come across in our adventures and realized that a little rain on our production was nothing compared to what some people are facing in their lives. The work we do tells your stories. We are here to serve you. You are our audience. Of course there are those who say we are doing a disservice to the Cree nation because we’re “always negative.” To them I say “too bad.” We have things to talk about.

I also want acknowledge the different people on our teams. Firstly my wife and partner Catherine who holds our various teams together along with Linda Ludwick and Christina Fon. And all the people who make these shows happen: Neil Diamond, Jeff Dorn, Megan Thorne, Amy Webb, Jake Kent, John Hepworth, Gabriel Teller, Tereska Gesing, Marco Fania, Jean Denis Daoust, Abraham Etapp and his family, Mona Laviolette, Richard Lawson. And on our other productions we have Tracey Deer, Steve Bonspiel, Joanne Roberton, Jean-Pierre Maher, Ray Lamoureux, Alan Kohl, Shawn Goldwater, Camila Bios, Paul Raphael, Galit and many people in post production sound and video. I want to thank the Beesum team as well for all the hard work and dedication they put in. Of course there are many others not listed. We also thank the people who let us into their lives so we can tell their stories. Thank you and God Bless.