Wendake, Que.-based production company Terre Innue has undergone an expansion, adding eight members to its team.

The new hires include Chaz Beaudette as producer and creative director. Beaudette, a Metis director and writer from the Red River Settlement in Winnipeg, has several credits, including directing 13 episodes of Wookey Films’ Comment devenir adulte.

Former  administrator for the Canada Media Fund Jeremy Spry has joined as executive producer and VP, business development. Spry has also headed business affairs at Sphere Media, Muse Entertainment and Just for Laughs.

Director and writer Amy Miller has joined the company as a producer. Her numerous directing and producing credits include Manufacturing the Threat (Diffusion Multi-Monde, Wide Open Exposure Productions), Tomorrow’s Power (Byron A. Martin Productions, Wide Open Exposure and Zeugma Films) and Another Word for Learning (Wide Open Exposure).

Bastien Gagnon-Lafrance has joined as creative director. The Wendat producer from Wendake co-founded the Festival OFF de Québec and was previously the chief podcast producer at Québecor.

Andréanne O’Bomsawin has joined as communications director and scriptwriter-in-training. An Abenaki from the Obanak reserve in central Quebec, she previously freelanced as a social media strategist and manager with several television production companies. Kim Arsenault, an Abenaki from the W8linak reserve within the city of Bécancour, Que., has joined as project manager and director-in-training. She previously directed the animated film Madah8do al8miwi nia.

Elie-John Joseph, an Innu director from Uashat mak Mani-utenam, has joined as production coordinator, director of photography and director-in-training. He previously served as coordinator of leadership workshops for Indigenous audiences at the non-profit Wapikoni Mobile and directed the short film Qu’est-ce que je te montrerai?.

Lastly, Marie-Michelle Emond has joined as VP, finance and administration. Emond has spent more than 33 years in the industry at companies like Groupe Fair-Play and Just for Laughs, where she held positions in finance and administration, and worked as executive producer.

The company was founded in 2010 by the late Réginald Vollant, Ian Boyd and Andrée-Anne Frenette. It has been led by president and executive producer Kim O’Bomsawin since 2020.

“I am very grateful for the arrival of new talents within my team. We have been talking about the scarcity of Indigenous labour for more than a decade. Working daily with such talented individuals from First Nations shows me that our efforts are bearing fruit,” said O’Bomsawin in a statement.

“I also feel immense gratitude towards Jeremy, Amy and Marie-Michelle, who, by joining us, become valuable allies thanks to their talents and their deep experience in the production field.”

The company is planning a name change in the coming months, to “better reflect its evolution,” according to a release.

Image courtesy of Terre Innue; Pictured (L-R): (Top) Chaz Beaudette, Jeremy Spry, Amy Miller, Andréanne O’Bomsawin, (Bottom) Kim Arseneault, Elie-John Joseph, Bastien Gagnon-Lafrance and Marie-Michelle Emond