Keenan Grom at the Indigenous-led Stunt Nations workshop learns how to simulate getting shot to fall off a horse at Chiniki Ranch
A stunt company with Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda roots is giving more Indigenous peoples a chance to fall head over heels for the province’s in-demand film industry.
Stunt Nations, launched in 2021, is churning out set-ready stunt actors to meet an increasing amount of filming opportunities, but more importantly, to add more Indigenous names to a growing list of credits in Alberta.
“My reward is getting to see other people get their foot in the door and get that experience,” said Stunt Nations co-founder Marty Wildman. “At the end of the day, if another Indigenous person, or better yet, someone from my own community can get their name on the big screen, that means a lot.”
The stunt school has trained hundreds of Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in recent years. Many have found work in recent Alberta-based productions including Wind River: The Next Chapter, Hulu’s Prey, and CBC’s Heartland, now going into its 17th season.
Nextflix’s outlaw western series, The Abandons, is also set to begin filming its first season in the Calgary area in June. Wildman said the production has already reached out to scout from the Stunt Nations talent pool for trained professionals.
“They’ve asked me if I can send them our roster, people who have been through training,” he said. “It’s a great opportunity and I think they’ll be able to find work on that.”
Wildman, of Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation, grew up around the Mînî Thnî (Morley) area. He said it was mostly by chance that he was able to break into film in the 1990s while CBC was filming the television series North of 60 in Bragg Creek, but it’s been a rewarding career that he hopes other Indigenous peoples have the opportunity to pursue.
His other film credits include Lonesome Dove (2004), Heartland (2015-16 & 2018), Outlander (2017, 2019 and 2021) Invasions (2021) and Makings of a Murder (2022).
Opportunities for Indigenous up-and-comers should no longer be left to chance, Wildman said. Especially at a time when so many productions are capitalizing on the province’s film and tax credit, and many films shooting on Indigenous lands – with permission.
“At the end of the day, we have X number of people that are willing and able to go and work on these productions. There’s no reason to not have Indigenous representation. These people understand what it means to hit your mark, how to fall down and sell it to the camera,” he said.
The economic impact of film and television production in the Calgary area alone soared to a record $522 million in 2021 because of improvements to the province’s tax credit program, according to the City of Calgary’s economic development agency.
In January 2020, the Screen-based Production Grant was replaced by Alberta’s Film and Television Tax Credit, enabling the province to better compete with other regions such as B.C., Manitoba, and Ontario in attracting film productions.
Alberta’s 2022-23 budget also includes an increase of 40 per cent from 2021 to the Film and Television Tax Credit program for a total of $70 million in 2022-23 and $225 million through 2024-25.
“It’s a growing business with the amount of films coming into Alberta and we’re trying to make sure there’s space for everyone at the table,” Wildman said.
It is films like Prey, released in 2022 as the latest sequel to the Predator series, that are driving change in Indigenous representation in film, he noted.
The production was largely filmed on Îyârhe Nakoda First Nation and the cast was about 95 per cent Indigenous, including its producer, Jhane Myers, who is Comanche and Blackfoot.
“The best thing about having a First Nations or Indigenous producer, stunt coordinator, director … is that we know the protocols of our cultures and how to not culturally appropriate – how to do things properly,” said Wildman.
Their vision for Stunt Nations is to eventually expand into a facility with equipment for people to safely learn how to do backflips or fall down stairs, for example, in addition to the equestrian, hand-to-hand combat and weapons training they currently give.
“We want to get to that level where people can do a scene where they’re jumping off a building, parachuting out of a plane, riding motorcycles off ramps and around cars – that’s the growth for us, that’s the future,” Arcand said.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada. The position covers Îyârhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation and Kananaskis Country.
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