Jennifer Podemski
Birth : 1974-01-01, Toronto, Canada
History
Jennifer Podemski is an award winning Film and Television Producer and Actor born and raised in Toronto, Canada.
Of mixed First Nations and Israeli descent, Jennifer began her acting career as a teen. Her career blossomed when she was cast as Pique in CBC's The Diviners followed by a starring role in Bruce McDonald's Dance Me Outside.
As her career in front of the camera exploded, Jennifer began to notice the inequity behind the lens. Although all of the roles she was awarded as actor were First Nations characters, she rarely, if ever, saw any First Nations writers, producers or directors.
By 25, with a solid career under her belt, Jennifer opened her first production company, Big Soul Productions (BSP) with fellow burgeoning producer Laura Milliken. BSP became the first Aboriginal owned and operated, full service production company in Canada, producing hundreds of hours of television including three seasons of the award winning Dramatic Series Moccasin Flats for Showcase and APTN.
In 2005, Jennifer branched out on her own and founded Redcloud Studios, Inc.
Although Jennifer has maintained a successful career as an actor, with roles in Degrassi, Republic of Doyle, Sarah Polley's Take This Waltz and Jimmy P alongside Benicio Del Toro, she is most proud of her starring role in her own film Empire of Dirt for which she was nominated for two Canadian Screen Awards for Best Actress in a Supporting Role as well as Best Feature Film for her work as producer.
Empire of Dirt premiered at TIFF 2014 and continued to a theatrical release in Canada and traveled the world on the film festival circuit.
Jennifer is also the creator and producer of APTN's famed paranormal series The Other Side, currently shooting it's second season; in her 9th year as Co-Executive Producer and Creative Director of the Indspire Awards (Global, APTN) for which she was nominated for Best Lifestyle Television Show at the 2014 CSA's.
More recently, Jennifer can be seen as Dr. Crowshoe on the award winning drama series Blackstone; HBO's Sensitive Skin with Kim Catrall and in FireSong, written and directed by Adam Garnett Jones.
A storyteller behind and in front of the camera, Jennifer still makes time for training aboriginal youth in film and tv, mentoring and holding self esteem workshops across the US and Canada.
Director
During the COVID-19 pandemic, nine filmmakers isolating in different parts of the world join to make a film. A 9-chapter anthology, this collection created by women filmmakers from South Africa, Germany, Spain, China, United States, and across Canada. ONE(NINE) is a timeless multiversal experience of what it means to find connection in a time of isolation, orchestrated by one of Canada's most fierce and prolific indie filmmakers, Ingrid Veniger.
Mrs. Rosenthal
In a crime-noir about the urban child-soldier, Akilla Brown captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery. Over one gruelling night, Akilla confronts a cycle of generational violence he thought he escaped.
Mrs. Cappo
Based on a stage play of the same name by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, the story follows Cassandra, who is portrayed by the two women, expressing the opposing voices that exist inside the modern woman's head, during a 48-hour period as she tries to organize the affairs for her mother's funeral.
Jackie
Shane, a gay Anishnabe teenager in Northern Ontario, is struggling to support his family in the aftermath of his sister's suicide. If he fails, he will be forced to choose between his family's home and his own future.
Producer
Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was pregnant and, before giving birth, was kicked to the curb by her mom. The cycle continues and Lena is now watching helplessly as her own daughter, Peeka, spirals out of control, landing herself in the hospital following a drug overdose. As a final attempt at survival, Lena decides to return home and face her own mother and a past she’s desperate to escape.
Minnie Mahikan
Like many Native families, Lena Mahikan grew up in the cycle of abuse. Her father, a residential school survivor, was an alcoholic until he killed himself when Lena was 10. Her mother, only 14 years her senior, turned to the slots. By the time Lena was 15, she was pregnant and, before giving birth, was kicked to the curb by her mom. The cycle continues and Lena is now watching helplessly as her own daughter, Peeka, spirals out of control, landing herself in the hospital following a drug overdose. As a final attempt at survival, Lena decides to return home and face her own mother and a past she’s desperate to escape.
Karen
Twenty-eight-year-old Margot is happily married to Lou, a good-natured cookbook author. But when Margot meets Daniel, a handsome artist who lives across the street, their mutual attraction is undeniable.
Grace
A child escapes from Poland during World War II and first heads to Greece before coming of age in Canada.
Juanita
Journalist Zenia Arden has disappeared. When her finger turns up on the shores of Lake Ontario next to her blood-soaked car, the police believe they've uncovered a homicide.
Beryl Prince
A eulogy is given for Tommy Prince, Canada’s most-decorated Indigenous war veteran.
Producer
Against the terrifying backdrop of a biological apocalypse, a Native teenager, Brian, comes out to his older sister, Faith, and homophobic brother, Charles. Conflict erupts among them as desperate survivors from the city seek refuge on the rez from the horrors of a 'megapox' epidemic that is quickly devastating urban populations across North America. Through a perilous journey to the city for food, where they rescue Brian's 'friend' in the process (an outrageous drag queen named Tonya), the hungry and frightened youth reach acceptance by facing down their fears.
Marjorie Sebastian
Teevee Tenia has a plan - he intends to persuade Lynx River to dump the RCMP and establish an all Dene Police Force. But Corporal Michelle Kenidi is concerned: will a Dene Police Force in Lynx River be answerable to Canadian law, or to Teevee? When an elderly tourist is found beaten to death, Michelle’s concerns deepen as her suspicions fall upon Teevee’s friend, Matthew Fowler. As Michelle pursues the investigation, painful events from the past come alive. For the community of Lynx River, the investigation holds the town’s very future at stake.
Kate
A black comedy, Don't Think Twice is a disturbing and profound examination of the morals of a man forced to choose between lover and family.
Circus Character
Recently orphaned, a young boy is taken in by his godmother who is shocked to realize that she can see the boy's imaginary friend: a flamboyant, French magician named Bogus.
Sadie Maracle
Explores the sensitive, and tense, relationship between life on an First Nations reservation and life in the outside world. When Native Canadian Silas Crow is forced to write a personal essay in order to get a much-desired job, he tells the story of the rape and murder of an Indian girl by a drunken thug. When the killer received a lenient two-year sentence for manslaughter, the First Nations community felt shock and anger -- and tried desperately to deal with the after-effects of this lack of justice.
Morag Gunn (Sonja Smits), a writer who is having trouble with her teenage daughter, examines her own relationship history, which includes a period of turbulence with Jules (Tom Jackson). While she and Jules have known each other since childhood, he is no rock of stability. In addition, he is white, while she is part Native American, so the teenage Morag (Mairon Bennett) experienced racism he can only imagine. Even after they have a daughter, she struggles against the emptiness within her.
