Our mission

amplify Indigenous voices, opportunities, and reconciliation through visual storytelling

the videographer

Tyler Mcleod

Tyler is a proud member of the Duncan’s First Nation with Nîhiyaw (Plains Cree), Dane-zaa (Beaver), and Scottish ancestry. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration in Marketing Communications. Prior to founding Kotawan Media, spent ten years in the technology industry working towards indigenous sovereignty.

As a founder he is committed to helping the community find more equitable outcomes; whether through empowering entrepreneurship or helping indigenous-focused organizations share their stories. Tyler is proud to volunteer his services each year to local Truth and Reconcilliation Day events, and community programs such as KNIT.

Kotawân (ᑯᑕᐋᐧᐣ) means “campfire” in Nîhiyawîwin (Plains Cree). While the campfire is essential to the Nîhiyawîwin people because it provides warmth and safety, it is also a place to tell stories, teach lessons, and share cultural values, which we derive our purpose from.

Our logo was designed by Nîhiyaw artist, Bree Island, from Mixed Creatives.

“In the Nîhiyaw Tâpisinowin / the Cree way of life and Cree worldview, our home fires, and our sacred fires are all central to the sharing of our teachings and stories. How we build our fires, the gratitude we extend when we call on fire as a life-giver, and how we protect our fires is also important.

kisînâpîwasiniy/ kind man rock, or grandfather rock, is sacred and also considered a life-giver and spirit. Used in sweatlodge ceremonial fires, grandfather rocks find their way to fires that need protection and guidance. The kinship we feel when sharing around a fire is grounded in the presence of these grandfathers.

The design honours the nîhiyaw storytelling art form, also know as legend art. The imagery used and the intricate detailing speaks to transformations, communication, and interconnectedness. With lines of communication, movement, and x-ray detailing, all contribute to the stories being told. Here we see the stores formed within our homefire and how the grandfather rocks ground us in our teachings and connection to land.”

Our Values

We utilize a Nîhiyaw Tâpisinowin ‘Cree way of seeing’ to guide our relationships with clients, partners, and contractors.

This includes adhering to the following Nîhiyaw values:

  • Wahkôtowin: Relatedness/Interrelatedness

  • Manâcîtowin: Compassion

  • Kitimâkiyimitowin: Empathy

  • Sâkîtowin: Love

  • Tapahtîmisowin: Humility

  • Kihciyimitowin: Respect

Our process

our project process is designed to bring your storytelling vision to life with cultural sensitivity and technical excellence.

  • Our first step is to get to know each other and the “Why?” behind the project. In this conversation, we’ll be seeking to understand who your organization is and why storytelling is needed, at this time. If there’s alignment between our organizations and values, we’ll also start to shape what the audience and distribution goals would be.

  • Once the organizational and project needs are understood, Kotawan Media will prepare a document for your review that will outline our proposed solution for your storytelling needs and fulfills your audience and distribution goals (ie. One long video for presentations or three shorter social media clips? Animation and custom graphics? Travel required? etc.). This will be a comprehensive proposal inclusive of all costs and deliverables, that can be used for approvals. Once the proposal and your first payment is made, we’ll schedule a kick-off call with you and your supporting cast to organize schedules.

  • To ensure we maximize you and your supporting cast’s time effectively, ahead of the production days we will complete all our market research (if applicable) into your audience and project objectives. We’ll create your project’s plan in Milanote, so you can follow progress and provide feedback as it develops. This is also where we’ll organize the shoot schedule, locations, access, and associated storyboarding and scripting, so you can circulate in advance to any cast members who will be on screen.

  • Included in your production is the supply, transport, and operation of all related videography equipment, including camera, lights, microphones, drones, and speciality equipment. During the scheduled production days, we’ll coordinate with your team and the on-screen cast members to capture all the necessary footage. Your team will also need to provide any digital or physical assets we want captured, such as logos, historical footage, files, etc. Kotawan Media understands not every cast member is an expert at being in front of a camera, so will provide buffer time between interviews (if applicable) to ensure comfort and cultural safety during the day.

  • Once the lights have dimmed on the shoot, we’ll begin the post-production process. If you are purchasing raw footage, the project will skip ahead to Delivery from here! During this phase, it might be a little quiet on our side, as we clip, edit and colour-grade the raw footage into our storyboards and layer in any supplementary graphic assets. Then comes sound, music, and audio-engineering (such as adding voice-overs).

  • Once the first cut is ready, we’ll share with you and your team for review and feedback. Consider this your time to provide any executive director edits to us ahead of distribution.

  • Finally, we’ll export the relevant formats for your distribution channels and ensure technical nitty-gritty such as file size and storage are appropriate for your needs. We’ll provide everything you need via Google Drive, or assist you with posting the content to the various channels.