MATRIarchs

LORETTA TODD

DOREEN MANUEL

CEASE WYSS

TRACEY KIM BONNEAU

LORETTA TODD

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.

DOREEN MANUEL

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.

CEASE WYSS

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.

TRACEY KIM BONNEAU

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.

TEAM

DAVIS HESLEP

ROBYN WEASEL BEAR

SHASHA MCARTHUR

DAVIS HESLEP

Technical Director

Davis Heslep a mixed-race arts administrator, educator, producer, and media artist from Somba Ké (Yellowknife), NT Canada. From 2010 – 2022, Davis worked as programming and outreach director for the non-profit media arts organization Western Arctic Moving Pictures (WAMP). In 2014, Davis developed the traveling workshop Hackspace NT which aimed to develop the digital skills of young northerners through hands-on workshops on VR/360 video, game design, modular synth building, 3d modeling/printing, and other forms of digital fabrication. Davis was the representative for WAMP’s partnerships with The Initiative for Indigenous Futures (Concordia, Quebec), Inuit Futures (Concordia, Quebec), and Dechı̨ta Nàowo (Yellowknives Dene First Nation, NT/University of the Fraser Valley). In 2021, Davis was instrumental in hosting the 4th Symposium of the Future Imaginary for the Initiative for Indigenous Futures and the exhibition Rooted and Ascending

As a media artist, Davis incorporates the use of both discarded and contemporary technologies as a way to create experimental work. Davis has been a part of solo and collaborative exhibitions at the Vector Festival (Toronto, Canada) ArtArctica Festival (Helsinki, Finland), Imaginative Film Festival (Toronto, Canada) Fantasia Film Festival (Montreal, Canada), VIVO (Vancouver, Canada), and more.

ROBYN WEASEL BEAR

Project Coordinator

Robyn is a Blackfoot Production Manager, Producer and Project Coordinator from the Piikani Nation in Southern Alberta working in the BC Indigenous film community and in arts administration. After graduating from Simon Fraser University in 2015 she worked as a Production Manager, Producer, and Script Supervisor in television, music videos and feature film as well being a freelance videographer and editor. She held the role of Production Manager in multi-disciplinary art festivals with Pride in Arts Society’s Queer Arts Festival, and Full Circle: First Nations Performance’s Talking Stick Festival. In the capacity of freelance videography, editing and youth outreach Robyn worked with Kwantlen Polytechnic University’s Experiential Learning Program, the Provincial Health Services Authority’s Good Heart, Good Mind Indigenous Youth Conference, Vancouver Indigenous Youth Wellness’ A Mile in Our Moccasins short documentary, and the We Matter campaign’s Indigenous youth PSA. This work was focused on strengthening Indigenous youth wellness through art, HIV education and suicide prevention. Robyn worked in administration at the Bosa Centre for Film & Animation at Capilano University, and most recently in the role of Project Coordinator at the IM4 Media Lab. Through these experiences Robyn feels honoured to have developed a diverse skill set to continue being a helper in Indigenous communities.

SHASHA MCARTHUR

Program Assistant

Ą́ba wašte. As a Nakota/Nehiyaw filmmaker from the PR Nakota Reserve, Saskatchewan, I bring authentic Indigenous stories to the screen. I now work from the Unceded Territories of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, Tsleil- Waututh, and Musqueam people in Vancouver, BC. My passion lies in reclaiming our narratives, countering misrepresentation, and preserving our rich oral traditions through film and XR. Graduating from the Indigenous Independent Digital Filmmaking Program (IIDF), I've contributed to diverse projects, from short films to feature productions and innovative Unreal Engine cinematics. I believe in storytelling that honors cultural protocols and amplifies Indigenous voices. Serving on the board of Gender Equity in Media – Vancouver, I advocate for inclusive representation. I honour the Indigenous Matriarchs and creators who came before me, their legacy shaping my journey. “Nothing about us, without us,” as Jesse Wente reminds us.

INTERNS

SAVINU DISSANAYAKE

JULIEN MACKENZIE

ETHAN AGNO

SAVINU DISSANAYAKE

INTERN

Bio coming soon.

JULIEN MACKENZIE

INTERN

Bio coming soon.

ETHAN AGNO

INTERN

Hi, I’m Ethan. I’m a Computer Science major from the Okanagan with a passion for creativity, technology, and lifelong learning. I’m currently interning at IM4 Lab as a Creative Tech Assistant, where I get to explore immersive technologies and interactive forms of media that blend innovation with storytelling.

My background includes expertise in web development using JavaScript, HTML, and CSS, as well as game development with Unity. I also have strong experience programming in Java, Python, and R. I enjoy working across different mediums and love diving into new challenges that expand my skill set.

What excites me most is how technology can be used as a creative tool to build engaging experiences, tell meaningful stories, and connect people in new ways. Whether I’m coding a game mechanic or experimenting with an interactive prototype, I’m driven by curiosity and the joy of making something that feels alive.

I’m looking forward to where this path takes me next and to all the ideas, people, and projects I’ll get to explore along the way.