Taqqut Productions Inc. is an -owned film production company located in Iqaluit, . Taqqut is committed to bringing the stories of the North to the world, and aims to establish itself as an innovative leader of youth and children’s programming.

The company’s short films have screened at festivals in eighteen countries and have won over twenty international awards. This past year, Taqqut Productions completed production on the television series, Anaana’s Tent, which began airing on APTN in and English in May 2018, and season 2 of the series will begin airing this fall. In addition to the compelling television properties underway, Taqqut is also in development of two animated features, The Hidden World (2D animation) and Beyond the (stop-motion).

Taqqut has production experience with live action, stop motion animation, 2D animation, and puppets. Working with the Inhabit Media educational team (an award-winning Inuit publishing company), Taqqut has a wealth of stories of Northern folklore to share with the world.

TAQQUT PRODUCTIONS - CONTRIBUTION TO CANADIAN MEDIA

The owners and company staff are committed to high-quality children’s programming in television and film. Young viewers are in a vulnerable developmental stage, and the quality of the programming they watch has a significant and measurable impact on their development. In Nunavut, we are seeing that southern programming is contributing to loss of language (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun) and loss of interest and pride in .

At Taqqut Productions, we are dedicated to creating entertaining shows that provide educational value to young viewers, particularly in Nunavut. We are create films and television that entertains children while helping to improve literacy and numeracy, provide social emotional learning, showcase positive role models, and highlight the value of Inuit cultural activities, stories and northern life. Benefits of Taqqut Productions’ Children’s Television and Film

All of our educational experience and research has contributed to the development of high- quality productions for children. Our programs provide many benefits to Inuit and other Indigenous children such as:

• Establishing a strong foundation for Indigenous language learning • Exposure to rich language • Communicating Inuit/Indigenous societal values that have kept communities healthy for generations • Instilling pride in culture and lived experiences • Showcasing recognizable characters and role models that help foster pride in one’s self and community (including cultural pride) • Highlighting familiar places and activities, allowing children to recognize themselves and their surroundings in the programming they watch • Fostering acceptance of diversity

TAQQUT PRODUCTIONS - FILM AWARDS LIST

2017 Honorable Mention in Animation, for The Owl and the Lemming, Short. Sweet. Film Fest (Cleveland, OH)

2017 Nominated in the Best Animated Film category, for The Owl and the Lemming, West Chester International Short (West Chester, PA)

2017 Nominated as a finalist in the Children’s and Youth Category, for The Owl and the Lemming, Yorkton Film Festival (Yorkton, SK)

2017 Nominated as a finalist in the Animation Category, for Little Folk of the Arctic, Yorkton Film Festival (Yorkton, SK)

2017 Nominated as a finalist in the Animation Category, for Ogress of the Gravelbank, Yorkton Film Festival (Yorkton, SK)

2017 Nominated for “Animated Short” at American Indian Film Festival, for Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing, American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco, CA)

2017 Nominated for ‘Best Animated Short’, for The Owl and the Lemming, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum - Native Cinema Showcase (New Mexico) 2017 Best Animated Short, for Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing, Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum - Native Cinema Showcase (New Mexico)

2017 Nominated under the “Best Animation” Category, for Ukaliq and Kalla Go Fishing, LA Skins Film Fest (Los Angeles, CA)

2016 Nominated for ‘Achievement in Animation Filmmaking’, for The Owl and the Lemming, Los Angeles Skins Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)

2016 Nominated for ‘Achievement in Animation Filmmaking’, for Little Folk of the Arctic, Los Angeles Skins Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)

2016 Nominated for ‘Achievement in Animation Filmmaking’, for Ogress of the Gravelbank, Los Angeles Skins Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)

2016 Best Animation, for The Owl and the Lemming, American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco, CA)

2016 Best Animation, for Little Folk of the Arctic, American Indian Film Festival (San Francisco, CA)

2016 Best Short Animation, for Little Folk of the Arctic, Seoul Guro International Kids Film Festival (Seoul, South Korea)

2016 Finalist, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, CreActive International Open Film Festival (IOFF) (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

2016 Finalist, for The Country of Wolves, CreActive International Open Film Festival (IOFF) (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

2016 Special Mention Award for “Animation Film”, for The Amautalik, CreActive International Open Film Festival (IOFF) (Dhaka, Bangladesh)

2016 Honourable Mention, Animated Film, for The Country of Wolves, Short. Sweet. Film Fest (Cleveland, OH)

2015 Screened as part of Best of Montreal International Animated Film Festival, Directors, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, New Films Festival (Espinho, Portugal)

2015 Screened as part of Best of Montreal International Animated Film Festival, New Directors, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, New Films Festival (Espinho, Portugal) 2015 Best Children’s and Youth Production, for The Amautalik, Yorkton Film Festival (Yorkton, SK)

2015 Best Director (for Fiction), for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Yorkton Film Festival (Yorkton, SK)

2015 Audience Award, Animation, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Praxis Film Festival (Raleigh, NC)

2014 Best Animation, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, Tyrolean Independent Film Festival (Innsbruck, Australia)

2014 Best Animated Short, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, Los Angeles Fear and Fantasy Film Festival (Los Angeles, CA)

2014 Best Animated Film, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, 10th West Chester Film Festival (West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA)

2014 Audience Favorite, Animated Short, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Roseville Festival of Film & Animation (Roseville, CA)

2014 Honourable Mention, Canadian Short Drama, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Toronto, ON)

2014 Best Short Film for Children, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults (Auburn, Australia)

2014 Best Animation, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Fort McMurray International Film Festival (Fort McMurray, AB)

2014 Best Animation, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Montreal First Peoples Festival (Montreal, QC)

2014 Best Animated Short, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, Mount Dora Family Film Festival (Mount Dora, FL)

2014 Audience Choice Award for Best Animated Film, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, SENE Film, Music & Arts Festival (Providence, Rhode Island, USA)

2014 Best Animated Film, for The Orphan and the Polar Bear, 10th West Chester Film Festival (West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA) 2012 Best Narrative Short, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, CINE Las Americas International Film Festival (Austin, Texas, USA)

2012 Best Animated Film, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, SENE Film, Music & Art Festival (Providence, Rhode Island, USA)

2012 Best Animated Film, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, First Peoples Festival (Montreal, QC, )

2012 Best Short Film, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, Cinestrange Film Festival (Braunschweig, )

2011 Best Canadian Short Drama, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, 12th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Toronto, ON)

2011 The Cynthia-Lickers Sage Award for Emerging Talent, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Toronto, ON)

2011 Best Animation, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show (San Francisco, CA, USA)

2011 Best Canadian Short Drama, for Amaqqut Nunaat: The Country of Wolves, 12th Annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival (Toronto, ON, CA) DESCRIPTION Anaana’s Tent is the northern equivalent to Sesame Street, with a target audience of two- to six-year-olds. Each episode is composed of several vignettes, with recurring characters and themes. Each installment of Anaana’s Tent provides an entertaining and educational preschool experience for Northern children. Anaana’s Tent always begins in a place that is familiar and exciting for many Northern children—at their family tent on the land. Singer Rita-Claire Mike is the host, and with her ensemble of friends, animals, puppet characters, Inuit celebrities, and musical guests, she supports early childhood education in a fun and interactive way. This series also introduces young viewers to many positive Nunavummiut role models and celebrities and educates southern viewers about many of the positive aspects of Northern life and culture.

RATIONALE ESTIMATED INVESTMENT/TRANSMEDIA High-quality preschool program PRODUCTION BUDGET DVD/Bluray box set Promotes literacy and numeracy 1.5M Educational apps (Inuktitut language learning) Book series (with Arvaaq Books and Kindergarten readiness PRODUCTION TARGET the Nunavummi Reading Series) Role models and positive 5 seasons Music CDs messaging * season 1 completed, season 2 in production Card/Board Games

FORMAT AUDIENCE CURRENT STATUS 13 episodes per season 2–6 years old Season 1 completed x 30 minutes Season 2 in production Season 3 in development (ready for production proposal in early 2019) Inhabit Media Inc. is the first Inuit-owned, independent publishing company in the Canadian Arctic. We aim to promote and preserve the stories, knowledge, and talent of the Arctic, while also supporting research in Inuit mythology and the traditional Inuit knowledge of Nunavummiut (residents of Nunavut). Our authors, storytellers, and artists bring traditional knowledge to life in a way that is accessible to readers both familiar and unfamiliar with Inuit culture and traditions.

Incorporated in 2006, Inhabit Media was born out of a need for Nunavut kids to see their culture accurately represented in the books they read in schools. We have spent the last thirteen years working with elders and storytellers from across the Canadian Arctic to ensure that the region’s unique Inuit oral history is recorded and not lost to future generations.

As the only independent, Inuit-owned publishing house in Nunavut, Inhabit Media continues to contribute to the North American publishing industry by promoting authors, storytellers, and artists who live in Northern Canada, giving Northern voices and perspectives a place in mainstream publishing. With each publishing season, we strive to broaden the audience for the stories we share with Nunavummiut and all readers. We have published children’s picture books and young adult fiction, adult fiction, culturally relevant non-fiction, early- childhood reading materials, and graphic novels. We have over 200 titles in our list across Inuktitut, Innuinaqtun, French, and English.

Many of the stories that we publish have never been written down before, having existed for centuries as tales passed orally from generation to generation. While many of these stories are ancient, we work closely with elders, contemporary Inuit writers, and illustrators to present folktales and traditional stories in a format that will resonate with modern audiences. Our books do not simply provide a glimpse into Inuit culture; they also represent the preservation of oral history and traditional knowledge that may otherwise have been lost, in a format that contemporary readers will find engaging, entertaining, and informative. Recent Award Recognition

2018 Startup Canada Award for Social Enterprise North Winner

2018 Nature Inspiration Award Winner

2018 White Raven International Library Selection Sukaq and the Raven by Roy Goose and Kerry McCluskey

2018 Indigenous Voices Award - Most Significant Work of Prose in English by an Emerging Indigenous Writer Those Who Run in the Sky by Aviaq Johnston

2018 Board on Books for Young People, Outstanding International Books Selection Putuguq and Kublu by Danny Christopher

2017 Governor General’s Award for Young People’s Literature, Finalist Those Who Run in the Sky by Aviaq Johnston

2017 Burt Award for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Young Adult Literature, Finalist Those Who Run in the Sky by Aviaq Johnston

2016 United States Board on Books for Young People, Outstanding International Books Selection My Name is Arnaktauyok by Germaine Arnaktauyok

2015 Burt Award for First Naitons, Inuit and Métis Young Adult Literature, Winner Skraelings by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

2015 United States Board on Book for Young People, Outstanding International Books Selection Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk

2015 CLA Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Illustration Award, Finalist Way Back Then illustrated by Germaine Arnaktauyok

2014 Small Press of the Year – LIBRIS Awards

2014 Governor General’s Award for Young People’s Literature, Finalist Skraelings by Rachel and Sean Qitsualik-Tinsley

2014 Huffington Post Best Bedtime Book of the Year Sweetest Kulu by Celina Kalluk Inhabit Education is a Nunavut-based educational publishing company. Our mission is to provide educators and parents with resources that are infused with authentic Northern perspectives and imagery. Inhabit Education’s books are designed to support students across Canada in their reading development while providing access to materials that reflect the Arctic region’s diversity of perspectives, culture, and traditions.

Publishing Imprints:

Arvaaq Books is an imprint for infants and very young children. Books in this imprint are designed to help children explore the world around them and develop physical, social, emotional, cognitive, and language skills. Arvaaq Books contains both fiction and non-fiction titles relating to topics that are interesting to young children and relevant to the Nunavut context, such as Arctic animals, family, traditional foods, clothing, and seasons. All books feature colourful and engaging illustrations or photographs and are available in English and Inuktitut.

The Nunavummi reading series is a Nunavut-made levelled reading series that aligns the reading expectations of Inuktut (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun), English, and French. The series corresponds closely to the reading levels and expectations developed by the Department of Education in Nunavut. This approach provides educators and parents the tools they need to ensure that children are equally challenged and successful in all the languages represented in Nunavut. For southern educators, this series represents an opportunity to infuse their levelled reading programs with authentic Northern perspectives and knowledge. The books available in the Nunavummi reading series are for readers from Levels 1 (early Kindergarten) to 16 (late Grade 4). Inhabit Education’s Social Emotional Learning series features thoughtful, engaging stories that teach school-aged children to identify and regulate their emotions in healthy ways. This initiative was developed with the assistance of ELCC and social emotional learning experts and available SOCIAL in English, Inuktitut, and French. This entertaining series provides children EMOTIONAL with an opportunity to better recognize and understand their emotions, LEARNING and provides tools to help children deal with their feelings in healthy ways (emotional regulation).

Successes

• Creation of the Nunavummi reading series, which was developed after extensive research and consultation with linguists, Inuktitut language specialists, and Nunavut educators. Made up of 16 levels, Nunavummi is one of the only levelled reading series in the world that supports Indigenous languages (Inuktitut and Inuinnaqtun). It also provides an opportunity to include stories with authentic Northern perspectives in English and French levelled reading programs. • Creation of the Arvaaq imprint (Spring 2019), a truly unique imprint that utilizes current research in child development to support the intellectual and emotional development of infants and young children. This series is available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English and French. • Inhabit Education has published over 500 titles in Inuktitut and over 200 in Inuinnaqtun. • Inhabit Education’s commercial line has published over 100 books in English and Inuktitut, plus select titles in French.