TARO PR
AMPLIFY Original APTN Series starring Indigenous singer-songwriters aired Sept. 11th
With a strong cast of Indigenous musicians, this new series is an exciting journey into the personal lives and inspirations of some of the country’s most innovative rising stars. Combining personal stories with Indigenous history and culture, each episode gives you an intimate look into their musical creation process.
From Wolfwalker Productions and Wabung Anung Films comes original series AMPLIFY. The series is set to air its first two episodes on APTN beginning on Friday, Sept. 11th at 8pm ET. The series is made up of 13 - 22 minute episodes and following the Sept 11th airdate, a new episode will air each week in English and separately in Ojibway.
The premise of the anthology series is to invite an Indigenous songwriter to find a piece of inspiration (whether it be a book, art piece, belief, etc.) and write a song about it. Each episode is a platform for Indigenous songwriters and Indigenous knowledge keepers to share ideas about a specific topic close to them and create music out of it. Each episode ends with a music video of the song that was created based on the theme in the episode.
The series is produced by Michelle St. John (Colonization Road) and Shane Belcourt (Red Rover) from Wolfwalker Productions and Jeremy Edwardes (Kaha:wi - the Cycle of Life) from Wabung Anung Film Co. AMPLIFY is created by Shane Belcourt and the executive producers are Jim Compton and R. Todd Ivey.
A NOTE FROM THE SERIES CREATOR SHANE BELCOURT ABOUT THE PRODUCTION:
ON THE INSPIRATION FOR THE SHOW
The show was conceived as a platform to showcase Indigenous stories and music. It’s an opportunity for Indigenous songwriters and Indigenous experts, to collaborate, jam on ideas and put those ideas into one episode together. We called it AMPLIFY because the series amplifies Indigenous music, Indigenous stories, and Indigenous perceptions.
I love music, I love songwriting, I love talking about ideas and I love the idea of documentaries that are about the passion of people unabashedly. I figured it would be great to speak to these amazing artists, ask them to pick something meaningful to them and then explore that topic or issue. We really wanted a chance to be thoughtful and passionate about these artists and what they’re exploring and be inspired by it in a beautiful meditative kind of way.
SERIES CREATOR:
Shane Belcourt
STARRING:
Cheryl L'Hirondelle
Lacey Hill
iskwē
Shawnee
Melody McKiver
Nick Sherman
Tara Williamson
Leonard Sumner
Jason Burnstick
Ansley Simpson
Jennifer Kreisberg
Christa Couture
Directors:
Zoe Leigh Hopkins
Jessica Lea Fleming
Adam Garnet Jones
Nadia McLaren
Michelle Derosier
Madison Thomas
JJ Neepin
Erica Marie Daniels
Michelle St. John
Shane Belcourt
COURTESY OF TARO PR