Nunavut’s film and television sector is getting a boost, thanks to investments toward a new production studio in Iqaluit.

The Indigenous Screen Office (ISO) has contributed $1 million to help build the studio, according to a news release issued Friday (May 26), which says it is the ISO’s “largest funding commitment yet.”

The creation of the studio was initiated by local production company Red Marrow Media, co-founded by co-CEOs Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril. Inuk entrepreneur Cody Dean has also provided “private partnership investment,” said the release. Details on when construction will begin was not available as of press time.

ISO is a “first-in-funder” for the studio, with the organization also providing a larger investment in Nunavut through its Sector Development program, including support for broadcast channels Inuit TV and Uvagut TV.

The first production to be filmed at the studio is the recently announced, untitled scripted comedy co-commissioned by CBC, APTN and Netflix, which is co-created by Aglok MacDonald and Arnaquq-Baril, and produced by Red Marrow Media in association with Miranda de Pencier’s Toronto banner Northwood Entertainment.

Filming the series in Nunavut will maximize “the benefits of the project for the Inuit production community,” said the release. The studio will “continue to create economic development opportunities for Nunavut’s film and TV industry, and be shared for broad community use” once filming wraps.

Last month, the ISO issued a letter to the federal government seeking an earlier funding decision regarding the 2024-25 fiscal year, which will mark the end of its three-year $40.1 million support. The organization has requested permanent funding for the sustainability of its operations.

“ISO worked hard to negotiate terms with Canadian Heritage that would allow us to support capital costs [of the studio] because we know this is a critical component to building capacity in the Indigenous screen sector — particularly in the north,” said ISO CEO Kerry Swanson (pictured) in a statement.

“This studio will enable our production community to create content on a scale that has never been possible before,” added Arnaquq-Baril and Aglok MacDonald in a joint statement. “It is so important to us to be able to create content in our own homelands, which allows us to bring our community into our show, both onscreen and off. A studio like this would have been game changing for us at the start of our careers, and we hope its existence now will help spark the careers of many more Inuit creatives to come.”

Photo by Red Works Photography