Introduce Yourself : Fresh from Indian Country by Mark St. Pierre

Hello fellow house bound! I am a writer and producer with Cloud Horse Media in Kyle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. We have offered a film school here for almost 6 years. We call it Reel Jobs and funded it with USDA Rural Jobs Training Grants. (See cloudhorseartinstitute.org) I am sure we are the only Native, community based film school in North America. Reel Jobs brings in Industry professionals to teach in our humble studio. I am also an author whose books, like "Madonna Swan:A Lakota Woman's Story" or "Of Uncommon Birth" or "Walking in the Sacred Manner", have stayed in print year after year. Our documentary films like, "Mato Paha::Rally to Protect Bear Butte", and "Who Will Bury the Dead:The Death of Christianity in Lakota country?" (Amazon Prime) have won numerous awards. As a writer I realized years ago, after being invited to LA to talk about my projects, that if Native film is ever to become anything useful, impactful or truly meaningful, especially to Native people, we would have to create our own production capability. We have just finished a feature Romantic Dramedy, called "Mallard's Road" (See Mallardsraod.com) in which everyone n front of and bhind the camera is Lakota. A first. While Tyler Perry might be one fo the few who would really understand what we are trying to do, we are now in Pre-Production on our next feature film. We are looking for folks who might be interested in working with us, right here in Indian Country. We are looking for partners who want to see Native American films take a huge leap and be actually be produced by Native film companies. I love script writing as much as straight prose and am sitting on a pile of scripts in a wide budget range, both contemporary and period. If you have ever felt isolated from other writers or the industry, we are surely on the dark side of the moon. I am new to Stage 32 so don't know if what I have written is even appropriate! Stay well everybody!