Dedicated to
Our Mission

Our mission and vision

Vision Maker Media’s mission is empowering and engaging Native people to share stories.

We envision a world changed and healed by understanding Native stories and the public conversations they generate.

What We Do
Explore What We Do At
Vision Maker Media

Our Values

Courage
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Optio, neque qui velit. Magni dolorum quidem ipsam eligendi, totam, facilis laudantium cum accusamus ullam voluptatibus commodi numquam, error, est. Ea, consequatur.
Generosity
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Optio, neque qui velit. Magni dolorum quidem ipsam eligendi, totam, facilis laudantium cum accusamus ullam voluptatibus commodi numquam, error, est. Ea, consequatur.
Creativity
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Optio, neque qui velit. Magni dolorum quidem ipsam eligendi, totam, facilis laudantium cum accusamus ullam voluptatibus commodi numquam, error, est. Ea, consequatur.
Respect
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Optio, neque qui velit. Magni dolorum quidem ipsam eligendi, totam, facilis laudantium cum accusamus ullam voluptatibus commodi numquam, error, est. Ea, consequatur.
Commitment
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit. Optio, neque qui velit. Magni dolorum quidem ipsam eligendi, totam, facilis laudantium cum accusamus ullam voluptatibus commodi numquam, error, est. Ea, consequatur.
We bring Indigenous storytelling to your home through community-based digital events, social media feeds and online film programs.

Our Team

Staff Members

Francene Blythe-Lewis

Executive Director

(Diné, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Eastern Band Cherokee)

Georgiana Lee

Director of Programs & Projects

(Navajo/Dine)

Dawn Amory

Director of Development &
Communications

Gregg Jablonski

Director of Accounting & Finance

OPEN

Digital Media Coordinator

Alana
Stone

(Sicangu Lakota)

Brittany Grove

Contracts & Accounting Associate

Ann Mckeighan

Administrative Project Coordinator

Board Members

Joely Proudfit

Board chair

Walt Pourier

Vice Chair

Franz Joachim

Secretary

RANDAL P. HANSEN​

Treasurer

Mary Kathryn Nagle

Paul Hunton

La quen náay Liz Medicine Crow

Elizabeth Weatherford

Kate Beane

Nuturing Youth

We nurture the next generation of storytellers through partnerships with sustainable Native youth media training programs.

Mentorship & Funding

We provide Native filmmakers with professional workshops, funding, internships and mentorship programs.

Education

We help educators effectively cover present-day and historical Native
topics through free viewer discussion guides.

FOR OVER 45 YEARS
We've Educated
The Nation

Vision Maker Media fans and media consumers spread vastly across the United States and even worldwide, reaching younger and older audiences alike. Distinctive Native American tribes, cultures, histories and stories can be found everywhere and can be enjoyed by all age groups.

Native American and Alaska Native Films

No posts found!

No posts found!

No posts found!

Explore What We Do At
Vision Maker Media

Learn why Native representation in the media is vitally important.
See the positive impact we’re making for our filmmakers in your community.

News & Updates

Explore film updates, learn more about modern-day Native culture, go behind the scenes with the filmmakers, and keep up with the latest and greatest at Vision Maker Media.

OPEN

Digital Media Coordinator

Alana
Stone

(Sicangu Lakota)

Brittany Grove

Contracts & Accounting Associate

Ann Mckeighan

Administrative Project Coordinator

Francene Blythe-Lewis

Executive Director

Diné, Sisseton-Wahpeton, Eastern Band Cherokee

“The visionary”

Role: Francene oversees and directs the entire staff at Vision Maker Media. She keeps her team moving towards our mission to propel VMM to the forefront of storytelling, innovation and creative thinking. An advocate for supporting Native American filmmakers and Native American media, she believes the most important aspects of Native and Indigenous stories are rooted throughout the millennia of time.

Executive Director Francene Blythe-Lewis

Julianna Brannum

Director of Programs

Comanche

"The Programmer"

Role: As Director of Programs, Julianna oversees the Public Media Fund as well as acquisitions, marketing, and distribution for all VMM’s titles. Her years of filmmaking experience give her the drive to help filmmakers through the whole process from development to delivery. She doesn’t mind holding your hand through the scary parts and loves to celebrate your storytelling achievements. A Gen-Xer to the core, she’ll advocate for you when you need it.

Dawn Amory

Director of Development & Communications

“Ol' Reliable”

Role: Dawn is the master of her fundraising domain. No matter the project, deadline, or impossibility, Dawn will find someway to get it done. You’ll often find Dawn in Alyssa’s office, chatting about her furbaby and dreaming up new marketing and development campaigns.

Director of Development and Communications Dawn Amory

Gregg Jablonski

Director of Accounting, Finance & Administration

“Money Man”

Role: Gregg makes sure the budget is balanced, and keeps Vision Maker Media from getting in trouble (at least financially). Gregg likes to laugh while dealing with numbers but occasionally cries. Gregg enjoys his new Vision Maker Media friends.

Director of Accounting and Finance Gregg Jablonski

Alex Fox

Digital Media Coordinator

"Signal Booster"

Role: Alex is the Digital Media Coordinator at Vision Maker Media, helping Indigenous stories soar to new heights by stitching storytellers’ words into social media. Between finding stories new eyes, he’s usually found in outlandish eyeshadow, drinking tea and listening to an ever-expanding music catalog.

Digital Media Coordinator Alex Fox

Alana Stone

Project Manager

Sicangu Lakota

"Office Fashionista"

Role: Alana is the resident event planner and grant writing expert at Vision Maker Media. You can find her calmly and quietly juggling all the many moving parts for the next big event between sips of kombucha.

Project Manager Alana Stone

Brittany Grove

Contracts & Accounting Associate

“Data Conqueror”

Role: Brittany gathers the moving pieces to our teams’ products and productions. She’s all about a proactive process within an ever evolving workplace. Enjoys heavily caffeinated contract reviewing with creative financial thinking.

Contracts and Accounting Associate Brittany Grove

Ann McKeighan

Administrative Project Coordinator

"Detail Queen"

Role: Ann is the glue tying all the departments together, making sure no detail gets swept under the rug. From Shop Vision Maker management, to organizing filmmaker contracts, final proofreading, and even office birthday celebrations, Ann isn’t just the department assistant. She’s the department superhero.

Joely Proudfit

chair

Dr. Proudfit serves as the Department Chair of the American Indian Studies Department and the Director of the California Indian Culture and Sovereignty Center at CSUSM. She is the Executive Director of the California’s American Indian & Indigenous Film Festival. In 2016 she was appointed by President Barack Obama to the National Advisory Council on Indian Education. In 2021 California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to the Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Proudfit is President and Owner of Native Media Strategies, LLC, which consults, collaborates, and produces with the entertainment industries and professionals to develop inclusive strategies in fostering authentic representation of Native Americans. Her most recent project is the children animated series Spirit Rangers on Netflix. She owns Naqmayam Communications, an independent, full-service, public relations agency. 

Walt Pourier

Vice Chair

Walt is Oglala Lakota and created the logo for Urban Rez. He is Creative Director, owner of Nakota Designs Advertising Designs and Graphics. Executive Director of the Stronghold Society nonprofit dedicated to instilling hope and supporting youth movements through Live Life Call To Action Campaigns.

RANDAL P. HANSEN

Treasurer

Randal P. Hansen is treasurer for the Vision Maker Media board of directors, serving the organization for the past eight years. His experience in the nonprofit sector includes current positions as assistant general manager of administration and finance for the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission and University of Nebraska Television, and treasurer and assistant secretary for the Nebraska Educational Telecommunications Commission and the NET Foundations for Television and Radio.

Phil Hoffman


Dr. Phil Hoffman is Assistant Dean of Media & General Manager at Ball State Public Media (BSPM). BSPM includes Ball State PBS and Indiana Public Radio, a radio network featuring NPR news and arts in East Central Indiana and the Indianapolis suburbs. A veteran public media leader, Phil has served in Ohio, Missouri, Florida and Indiana as a leader of public media stations. His media career began in Akron, Ohio at WKDD and WAKR. He also worked as a reporter and producer at WAKC TV in Akron and led 91.3 The Summit in Akron for nearly a decade. Phil has served on the boards of Florida Public Media, Indiana Public Broadcasting Stations, and NETA, as well at the Central Great Lakes and Mid-American Region National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS).

Paul Hunton

Secretary

Paul Allen Hunton is the President of WUNC-North Carolina Public Radio. He is a 3-time regional Emmy winning documentary director, a former member of the PBS Board of Directors, and the former chair of Texas PBS.

Before coming to North Carolina Paul was the General Manager of Texas Tech Public Media for 7 years where he led the successful acquisition of PBS El Paso and the strategic realignment of the organization into a regional multiplatform news and content company serving West Texas.

Andrew Okpeaha MacLean

Andrew Okpeaha MacLean is an Iñupiaq filmmaker originally from Alaska, now living in Brooklyn, NY. Previous credits include the short films Natchiliagniaqtuguk Aapagalu: Seal Hunting With Dad, which played at the Sundance film Festival, Sikumi, which won the Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at Sundance, and the feature film On The Ice, which won a Crystal Bear and the Best First Feature Prize at the Berlinale. In his hometown of Utqiagvik (formerly Barrow, Alaska), Andrew co-founded the Iñupiat Theater, which was dedicated to performing shows entirely in the Iñupiaq language. He currently teaches directing in New York University’s Graduate Film Program, of which he is also an alumnus. Andrew is developing his second feature film, Qimmit. He is currently a writer on the prime-time drama Alaska Daily, which airs on ABC, and is also developing a limited series for FX.

Elizabeth Weatherford

Elizabeth Weatherford is a Board member of Vision Maker Media, and the founder and emeritus director of the Film and Video Center of the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian and its Native American Film + Video Festival in New York City and Native Cinema Showcase in Santa Fe.

Kate Beane

Chair

Dr. Kate Beane is Flandreau Santee Sioux and holds a PhD in American Studies and a BA in American Indian Studies from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Museum of American Art, and serves as adjunct faculty in American Indian Studies at the University of Minnesota. She is a board member for the Lower Phalen Creek Project, and in 2020 was appointed by Governor Walz to serve on the Capitol Area Architectural and Planning Board (CAAPB) in Saint Paul. In 2018 Kate and her father Syd Beane completed a documentary film, Ohiyesa: The Soul of an Indian, which shares the story of her grandfather, writer, reformer, and physician Charles A. Eastman and in 2019 she presented a Minneapolis TEDX talk titled “The Lasting Legacy of Place Names.”

JORDANA BASS

Project Coordinator​

(Hataža Mani Winga)​

"Cinema Aficionado"

Role: Jordana is excited to engage with different Native/Indigenous communities. Her passion for working with youth will help develop the Native Youth Media Project. She will also assist with the Creative Shorts Fellowship (CSF) to help organize deliverables for filmmakers.