About ISO - ISO-BEA

The ISO champions Indigenous screen-based storytellers and narrative sovereignty in Canada through our funding and advocacy work.

We support Indigenous companies, communities and individuals to share their diverse stories and perspectives across all screen platforms.

The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) is an independent national advocacy and funding organization serving First Nations, Inuit and Métis creators of screen content in Canada.

The ISO’s mandate is to foster and support narrative sovereignty and cultural revitalization by increasing Indigenous storytelling on screens and promoting Indigenous values and participation across the sector.

ISO policies and activities are grounded in and informed by Indigenous knowledge(s), which means respecting Indigenous ways of knowing, seeing, doing, acting, and listening. We acknowledge, and strive to uphold the principles of respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and relevance in our working relationships.

How To Lose Everything – Pow Wow Memory, Chief Lady Bird, Christa Couture

The creation of the ISO in 2017-18 was the result of decades of advocacy from Indigenous industry professionals and creators who identified that an organization supporting Indigenous storytellers was a crucial component to a healthy and robust media landscape in Canada.

ISO currently funds a number of programs and initiatives through two key streams: the ISO Story Fund and Sector Development. ISO also hosts regular training and workshops, as well as ongoing resources around On-Screen Protocols and Pathways: A Media Production Guide to Working with First Nations, Inuit and Metis Culture, Concepts and Communities.

ISO achieves its mandate with a strategic and community-centered approach that includes the following key pillars:

We Empower Communities

ISO’s work is in supporting Canada’s diverse community of Indigenous screen-based storytellers and the workforce to support screen-based production.
ISO provides advocacy, training and funding for Indigenous storytellers and professionals working in any screen-based context in Canada, including film, television, web, gaming, digital and emerging technologies.
ISO advocates for Indigenous narrative sovereignty on screens and is the first independent, Indigenous-led organization taking on this work in Canada.
While we are a central organization, we do not direct our communities – our communities direct us.

We are Responsive

We are an agile organization. As Indigenous storytellers identify system gaps, barriers, and needs, we respond.
ISO is there for Indigenous storytellers and communities. We are generous with our time and flexible in accommodating needs.
By securing permanent funding, ISO will be steadfast in reaching out to communities with new funding, outreach, training and storytelling initiatives.

We are Innovative

ISO is looked to for our leadership in creating change for the screen-based industry.
As an Indigenous-led, community centered organization, we engage distinctly. We reimagine programs and opportunities that align with Indigenous values and ways of working. We rebuild old structures to develop new funding streams that meet the needs of our communities.
Through training and partnerships, we show industry partners and professionals a more powerful way to work with Canada’s Indigenous storytellers.