Our People

Kelly Steele

Executive Producer / Director / Founder (she/her)

Kelly is of Scottish, French and Ukrainian descent and her career producing, writing, and directing documentaries, social impact campaigns and podcast content has provided the opportunity to work in almost every province and territory in Canada. Her focus is on supporting heritage, cultural and environmental sovereignty goals of Indigenous communities, by working with colleagues, educators, Elders, Fluent Speakers, and Knowledge Keepers, to gather and preserve language and land-based learnings for future generations. Allyship, amplification, and advocacy through storytelling is the single most important priority for her and MFR.

Helga Ungurait

Producer / Postproduction Supervisor (she/her)

Helga is of Lithuanian descent and has worked as a script supervisor for 20+ years. From X Files, Final Cut and Things We Lost in the Fire, to Snow White and Night at the Museum, she has worked with the talents of Robin Williams, Benicio del Toro, Halle Berry, Owen Williams and Amy Adams. As Creative Producer, Helga was an instrumental part of team behind the success of Once Upon A Time. She has also worked on Dialogue Between Nations, a project offering Indigenous communities an opportunity to share and record conversations with each other. Now our team gets to benefit from her wisdom, talent, and generosity of spirit every day!

Shawna Yamkovy

Production Consultant/ Language Revitalization

Shawna is a member of Łutsël K'é Dene First Nation, and a Doctor of Social Sciences Student at U of A, working on Dëne Sųłiné Yati language revitalization. She supports our focus on strengthening culture and identity through language revitalization; programs to promote language and culture learnings for educators; preserving comprehensive written and oral language archives; and she works closely with Elder fluent speakers to preserve protocols around heritage, songs, dances and traditional practices. We are so glad to have Shawna’s passion for language, as well as her guidance and knowledge contributing to our work!

Lee Wilson

Director of Photography / Music Recordist (he/him) 

Lee is a member of the X̄á’isla Nation, born and raised in Kitmaat Village and part of the Killer Whale/Blackfish Clan. After 12 years working with youth at a non-profit in Nanaimo, Lee changed careers to work as a creative, and has worked exclusively as a filmmaker and photographer since 2017. This includes three intense and thought-provoking years as a video journalist for APTN, telling important stories of the day from an Indigenous perspective. For five years now, we’ve been the lucky beneficiaries of Lee’s skills – whether with a camera, in his recording studio, or delivering his wicked one-liners – our work is the better for his talents!

Pete Robinson

Location Sound

Peter is Dene, originally from Prince Rupert, and a location sound mixer and audio recordist now based out of Vancouver. A graduate of the Los Angeles Film School, Pete has since worked on many films and documentary series for the BBC, CBC, NFB, ESPN, APTN and more. His projects have screened at international film festivals including Tribeca, Sundance, New Zealand, Berlin, Toronto, and Vancouver. In 2021 Pete received the Leo Award for Best Sound for his work on the documentary, Magnitude Of All Things. We love Pete’s enthusiasm, and passion for sound, and are so excited to see his work on the documentary Tea Creek, out in October on CBC!

Emma Steele

Graphic Designer / Motion Designer (she/her)

Emma is a of mixed European descent, and is our senior illustrator and graphics/motion/web designer. She studied fine arts at Emily Carr, OCAD and Toronto Film School, and is based out of Toronto. Her particular passion for design and visual communication supports non-profits and social impact organizations, which aligns with MFR’s mission perfectly. We benefit enormously from her thoughtful creativity and her attention to detail. Whether it’s brainstorming, concept work, sketches, animations, motion, typesetting, or printing – we love her beautiful, colourful style, as well as her social conscience, integrity and enthusiasm!

Siequalynnda McNeil-Bobb

Illustrator, Animator

Marion Brown

Executive Producer / Language Revitalization (she/her)

Marion is a member of and elected councillor serving the Gitxaala Nation. She has produced/directed/managed 600+ hours of broadcast television, including Monkey Beach and Kayak to Klemtu. Her awards include the Indspire Award and the Brinkman Forest Ltd. Award in Aboriginal Business and Leadership. She has an MBA from SFU and her Public Leadership Credential from the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education. She says, “It’s urgent that Elders and Fluent Speakers, who are still able to pass down language, knowledge, and oral histories rooted in the land of their nations, be recorded and documented before it is lost forever.”

Paul Windsor

Character Development / Senior Illustrator

Paul is X̄á’isla/Heiltsuk from Kitimaat and Bella Bella, and currently resides in Vancouver. His work has been displayed in many galleries, including the Museum of Anthropology (MOA). Paul began drawing as a young child and is an ancestral designer who comes from a family of artists. Animating images that Paul creates is such a privilege and we are grateful for the many joyful moments we have together, discussing ideas and developing creative concepts. He feels that his art is “…the language that communicates not only cultural, but also personal stories, like songs do.”

Teresa Windsor

Senior Artist / Illustrator

Teresa’s X̄á’isla name is qamas (kay-mas) and she belongs to the gitsoc/Beaver Clan. A valued MFR artist and illustrator, she is also a masterful storyteller, a valued knowledge keeper, and narrated the X̄á’isla Origin Story animation. She shared her passion for culture and language as Cultural Coordinator for X̄á’isla Nation and now as a freelance cultural teacher, consulting on language revitalization, inclusion & diversity, and teaches traditional regalia and Northwest Coast art. She hopes our work can help “…repair the chain of inter-generational transmission of knowledge that was broken over the past centuries through the Indian Act and residential schools.”

Danielle Wilson-Brown

Director Assistant / Camera Assistant

Danielle is from X̄á’isla Nation, and a member of the Gitxaala Nation. She has 10+ years of experience in the film and television industry, contributing to many productions including Broken Angel, Monkey Beach, Trickster, and other Indigenous productions. From small-scale independent films to large-scale projects, she has developed a keen eye for storytelling and a strong understanding of the technical aspects of filmmaking. She is passionate about the importance of ancestral land-based skills as a source of connection. We also value her experience as a mental health support worker. She brings incredible compassion and care to our work in communities.

Tannis Wilson

Production Assistant / Safety / Fixer

Tannis is from the Xanaksiala/X̄á’isla Nation who says her proudest moments have been as part of our film crew, helping to capture and preserve traditional knowledge and language, and filming the oolichan harvest in her home village was particularly meaningful. Tannis successfully finished an Indigenous Internship Program at the Museum of Anthropology (MOA), which allowed her to bring ancient fish weirs, she’d been working to protect, to Canadian Conservation Institute (CCI) There she learned the next steps in their preservation. In addition to her PA duties, Tannis loves harvesting traditional plants for medicine and kindly sharing that knowledge!

Ian Lister

Cinematographer / Drone Operator (he/him)

Ian is of British descent and has 18+ years of experience in the film and television industry, shooting around the world, below the ground, high in the sky, and on the water on feature films, documentaries and TV series for Discovery, CTV, HGTV, Slice and BBC. Most recently he has been collaborating with the Black Foot Nation on The Secret History of the Wild West series, in its third season on APTN. He has been nominated for awards by the Canadian Society of Cinematographers and the Alberta Media Production Industry Awards. We would also nominate him for his adventurous spirit, and value his creativity, integrity and kindness enormously!

Rhys Waters

Editor / Sound Designer / Podcast Producer (he/him)

Rhys is our film editor and podcasting guru. Of Welsh descent, he travelled from Wales seven years ago to make Canada home. Winner of multiple BAFTAs, he has produced, directed and edited 60+ hours of TV, Radio and Comedy for BBC, NBC, Universal and The Comedy Store. In Britain he created national TV shows that blended documentary and comedy such as Rhod Gilbert’s Work Experience, Gareth Thomas: Game Changer, and BBC Comedy Feeds. Rhys’ editing work engages audiences so beautifully by adding thoughtful dimension and depth to all of our films and finding those moments of magic. And we love his creativity and dry wit!