Loretta Sarah Todd is a visionary leader in Indigenous media, an artist with entrepreneurial energy and cultural knowledge. Ms. Todd creates space for Indigenous production and storytelling, including designing and founding the IM4 Media Lab, an Indigenous XR Lab, where she is the Creative Director. The IM4 Lab is offering the first every Indigenous virtual production training program.

 

Ms. Todd is a director of over 100 projects including award-winning documentaries, and she's created apps, digital media, games and animation. Ms. Todd creates, produces and show-runs award-winning series, especially for children and youth, including Nehiyawetan, Coyote Science, Fierce Girls, and Skye and Chang, a sci-fi martial arts mash-up. Monkey Beach, her first feature, from the novel by Eden Robinson, launched to strong audience and critical response, screening at TIFF, ImagineNative, opening VIFF, sweeping the drama awards at the American Indian Film Festival and was the #1 Canadian film at the box office for 4 weeks, screened at over 40 festivals worldwide and garnered over 20 awards.

 

She was the one of the first Fellows with the Indigenous Screen Office and Co-Creation Lab at MIT Initiative. A respected speaker, she's presented at VIFFImmersed, The Global AR/VR Summit, Kidscreen, MOMA and at the UN on Aboriginal International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples. And she writes influential scholarly essays, including Aboriginal Narratives in Cyberspace.

 

Her many honours include a Rockefeller Fellowship to NYU, Sundance Scriptwriter’s Lab, Mayor's Award for Media Arts (Vancouver), Women in Film and Video Innovator Award and Women of Excellence: United Nation's Women's Economic Forum.

 

Ms. Todd is Cree/Metis - St. Paul des Metis, White Fish Lake First Nation, Red River Metis.