Principal photography has started on the Indigenous-led Crave original limited series Little Bird, which includes a new on-set training program that aims to build capacity and sustainability in the Indigenous screen sector.

Created by showrunner Jennifer Podemski (Unsettled) and head writer Hannah Moscovitch (X Company), the 6 x 60-minute drama is being filmed in and around Winnipeg, on Treaty 1 territory and the traditional territory of Anishinaabeg, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, Dene, and Métis people.

Little Bird is led by an Indigenous creative team as a coproduction from Bell Media’s Crave and APTN, produced by Rezolution Pictures and OP Little Bird with the participation of the Canada Media Fund and Manitoba Film and Music. Fremantle is handling international distribution for the series, which will be available in English and French and will launch simultaneously on Crave and APTN lumi.

Podemski also serves as executive producer, with Jeremy Podeswa (Game of Thrones) and Rezolution Pictures/Original Pictures also as executive producers.

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open) and Zoe Hopkins (Run Woman Run) each direct three episodes. Hopkins also wrote three episodes.

Indigenous actors Darla Contois, Ellyn Jade, Osawa Muskwa, Joshua Odjick, Imajyn Cardinal, Mathew Strongeagle, Eric Schweig, and Michelle Thrush are among the cast members in the story of an Indigenous woman who uncovers the hidden truth of her past while searching for her birth family in the Canadian prairies.

The production is also offering emerging and mid-career level Indigenous creators and crew — as well as entry-level individuals — a chance to gain practical on-set experience with the goal of helping them land employment in the industry. The training program is made possible via partnerships with the Indigenous Screen Office, Bell Media, REEL Canada, DGC, DGC Manitoba, and IATSE 856.

The series is also executive produced by Ernest Webb, Catherine Bainbridge, Christina Fon, Linda Ludwick (Rezolution Pictures), Kim Todd, Nicholas Hirst (Original Pictures), and Moscovitch, along with Christian Vesper and Dante Di Loreto (Fremantle). Producers are Tanya Brunel and Jessica Dunn (OP Little Bird), Philippe Chabot (Rezolution Pictures) and Ellen Rutter.

“I’m very proud to be working alongside visionaries like Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Zoe Hopkins, and a creative partner like Hannah Moscovitch, whose allyship is brilliant and remarkable,” said Podemski in a statement.

“I’m also incredibly honoured to tell this story with an outstanding group of actors. We all take the responsibility very seriously, and acknowledge that the power and triumph of this project lies in the reclamation of Indigenous narratives and perspectives.”

Adam Garnet Jones, APTN’s director of TV content and special events, said the series “explores the far-reaching impact of the child welfare system on Indigenous families,” adding that it’s “told by some of the brightest talents in Indigenous storytelling and provides audiences with the opportunity to reflect and have meaningful conversations about reconciliation.”

Justin Stockman, VP, content development and programming at Bell Media, called it “a powerful story that must be told.”

Photo (L-R): Jennifer Podemski, Hannah Moscovitch, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, Zoe Hopkins, and Jeremy Podeswa