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IM4 Lab Creative Director

The IM4 Lab was created by Loretta Todd, the IM4 Lab Creative Director. She first acknowledges the IM4 Lab is on the lands and territories of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations.

Ms. Todd envisioned the values of her people, the Nehiyaw, guiding the IM4 Lab, including Pimatisiwin – living a life fully and completely and Wahkohtowin – everything is related. And she envisioned the IM4 Lab’s based on respect, reciprocity and redistribution of wealth.

In this envisioning, she also knew it was important to respect the values and traditions, protocols and philosophies and knowledge that flow from all Indigenous Nations of these lands, especially those of the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam Nations. For Ms. Todd this means the governance of the IM4 Labshould reflect Indigenous governance systems, which acknowledge the strengths of Indigenous women. This is the basis of the role of matriarchs in the guiding of the IM4 Lab.

“We are inheritors of great cultural wealth, and with that wealth, great responsibilities. As storytellers we are part of a continuum of thousands of generations of storytellers. As such, we are called upon to serve our Indigenous Nations by contributing to healthy, productive societies….

I created the IM4 Lab as a means to serve the stories and knowledge of our ancestors and to affirm our cultural ways in these emerging technologies and industries. I wanted to create an environment that encourages the development of Indigenous media that acknowledges ancestral obligations while upholding cultural expression that reflects the diversity of Indigenous experience, art practice, freedom of expression and social relationships to community and one another. And for the first time in contemporary media history, we can shape these systems to reflect who we are in our beautiful complexity and experiences and knowledge. I am also committed to critical mass – the more of us with these skills and tools, the more influence and transformation of these technologies we will have.”

She is thankful for the support of Emily Carr University of Art and Design for providing support the IM4 Lab and all the funding sources. And, first and foremost we are all grateful to the Grandmothers and Grandfathers.

IM4 Lab Matriarch

Doreen Manuel is the sixth child of Grand Chief Dr. George Manuel and Marceline Manuel. Doreen is a graduate of the Aboriginal Film and Television Diploma Program (AFTP) at Capilano University and now the Director of the Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking Program at Capilano University. She has an extensive background working in First Nations education and community development in both rural and urban centers. Doreen comes from a long line of oral historians and factual storytellers from her First Nations traditional background. She is the recipient of the Governor General of Canada Medal Award for academic excellence for her studies in AFTP; and Women in Film & Television, Leadership in Education Award. She holds a MFA from the Film Department at UBC.

IM4 Lab Matriarch

Cease Wyss is a Skwxwu7mesh/Sto:Lo/ Hawaiian/Swiss media artist with close to 25 years experience in this field. She has produced various formats of media art, as well as being a mentor in her field for close to 15 years. She recently co-authored Journey to Kaho’olawe, covering more than two centuries of the Kanaka family’s migration to the Pacific Northwest coast, and was also a recipient of the City of Vancouver Mayor’s Arts Award for film and new media in 2010. She is also an ethno-botanist, traditionally trained in this field by Indigenous Elders. Her work involves site-specific and culturally focused teaching with storytelling as her means to sharing knowledge.

IM4 Lab Matriarch

Tracey Kim Bonneau is a Matriarch with the IM4 Lab. Her advisory role is to build capacity in the world or VR and assist with building capacity in communities. Tracey is a multiple award winning veteran documentary Director/Writer/Producer with extensive experience in project management. Her expertise is building highly effective teams and creating multi-platform projects. Tracey is member of the Syilx Nation/Okanagan, born and raised on the Penticton Indian Reserve in British Columbia, Canada. Tracey’s work is known to be future-oriented with innovation. Her documentaries are known to be hard hitting and are currently being utilized by University of British Columbia (UBCO). Her company Of the Land Productions Inc. specializes in quality productions featuring Indigenous stories. Her most recent accomplishment is 26 episodes which currently air on APTN (Quest OutWest — Wild Food.) Tracey has in-depth experience as a journalist in print, radio and television.