From Our Islands to the World
The Haida Gwaii Media Collective was a media training and production initiative for all residents of Haida Gwaii to gain the resources, skills and experience in digital storytelling.
With its inception in July 2021 and full public launch in March 2022, the Media Collective delivered dozens of impactful programs and initiatives that kickstarted many careers in media across the islands.
In August 2025, the Media Collective has gone on hiatus with intention to return in the future, while still remaining in spirit and in name.
IMPACTS
Since the Media Collective’s inception with the first photography workshops, we've experienced so much joy, inspiration, and growth with our creative community.
We've hosted over 35 workshops (improv, film editing, puppetry, music video production, documentary film-making, graphic design, to name a few), local show-and-tell nights, multi-week and multi-month film production intensives, and one-on-one mentorship with youth. We've rented out a range of digital equipment to local and visiting creators, and have connected locals to job opportunities on-island.
We've supported local events and film screenings, and have partnered with a bunch of incredible organizations.
We also brought up some renowned professional creatives like Leah Dean Cohen, Dustin Riel McGladrey, Rosie Johnnie-Mills, Farah Nosh, Helen Haig Brown, Morgan Tsetta, Georgia Esporlas, Jay Myers, Gaetan Lamarre, and more.
In Fall 2023-Winter 2024, we hosted a Documentary Film Incubator that brought together islanders to be mentored over 5 months by industry professionals to create their first documentary films, that culminated in a hugely successful and well received community screening. Several of our alumni are now working professionally in the film industry being hired locally to produce films.