Turtle Island Productions

From the T.I.P. Video Archive: John Trudell discusses joining the American Indian Movement after his involvement with the Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz Island 1969-1971. I filmed this interview in Sausalito, CA in 1996 for my documentary “Alcatraz Is Not an Island.” This and other clips were to be used in a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of A.I.M., the American Indian Movement, which I was to co-produce with filmmaker Jay Rosenstein (“In Whose Honor”). Our attempts to secure funding from several sources, including ITVS and the Sundance Documentary Fund were rejected….”too controversial.” I own the rights to most of these interviews, and now after all of these leading AIM figures: Dennis Banks, Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt, John Trudell, and Russell Means have passed away, perhaps their story will finally be told.

John Trudell on Joining AIM after Alcatraz for “Never Ignored: The Story of AIM, the American Indian Movement”, 2012 (WIP Teaser) I filmed this interview in Sausalito, CA in 1996 for my documentary "Alcatraz Is Not an Island." This and other clips were to be used in a proposed 90-minute docum

From the T.I.P. Video Archives: John Trudell discusses the incorrect assertion that the American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) was tied to the 1969-71 Indians of All Tribes occupation of Alcatraz Island. I filmed this interview in Sausalito, CA in 1996 for my documentary “Alcatraz Is Not An Island.” This and other clips were to be used in a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of A.I.M., the American Indian Movement, which I was to co-produce with filmmaker Jay Rosenstein (“In Whose Honor”). Our attempts to secure funding from several sources, including ITVS and the Sundance Documentary Fund were rejected….”too controversial.” I own the rights to most of these interviews, and now after all of these leading AIM figures: Dennis Banks, Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt, John Trudell, and Russell Means have passed away, perhaps their story will finally be told.

John Trudell on AIM and Alcatraz for “Never Ignored: The Story of AIM, the American Indian Movement”, 2012 (WIP Teaser) I filmed this interview in Sausalito, CA in 1996 for my documentary "Alcatraz Is Not an Island." This and other clips were to be used in a proposed 90-minute docum

From the T.I.P. Video Archives: Clyde Bellecourt on the Anishinaabeg 7th Prophecy & A.I.M. for “Never Ignored: The Story of A.I.M., the American Indian Movement”, 2012. I filmed this interview in San Francisco for a 2012 work in progress sample teaser for a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of AIM, the American Indian Movement. This and other clips were to be used in a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of AIM, the American Indian Movement, which I was to co-produce with filmmaker Jay Rosenstein (“In Whose Honor”). Our attempts to secure funding from several sources, including ITVS and the Sundance Documentary Fund were rejected….”too controversial.” I own the rights to most of these interviews, and now after all of these leading AIM figures: Dennis Banks, Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt, John Trudell, and Russell Means have passed away, perhaps their story will finally be told.

Clyde Bellecourt on the 7th Prophecy & AIM for “Never Ignored: The Story of AIM, the American Indian Movement”, 2012 (WIP Teaser) I filmed this interview in San Francisco for a 2012 work in progress sample teaser for a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of AIM, the American Indian Mo

From the T.I.P. Video Archives. Dennis Banks on the F.B.I. A.I.M. Trials for “Never Ignored: The Story of AIM, the American Indian Movement”, 2012. I filmed this interview in San Francisco for a 2012 work in progress sample teaser for a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of AIM, the American Indian Movement, which I was to co-produce with filmmaker Jay Rosenstein (“In Whose Honor?”). Our attempts to secure funding from several sources, including ITVS and the Sundance Documentary Fund were rejected….”too controversial.” I own the rights to most of these interviews, and now after all of these leading A.I.M. figures: Dennis Banks, Vernon and Clyde Bellecourt, John Trudell, and Russell Means have passed away, perhaps their story will finally be told.

Dennis Banks on the FBI AIM Trials for “Never Ignored: The Story of AIM, the American Indian Movement”, 2012 (WIP Teaser) I filmed this interview in San Francisco for a 2012 work in progress sample teaser for a proposed 90-minute documentary on the history of AIM, the American Indian Mo

Production Photo Archive #20. Pt 2 "Searching for Sequoyah." National PBS Premiere Fall, 2021. Producer/Director/D.P./Editor. 2018 filming locations: Cherokee Heritage Center, Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK, among other locations in Oklahoma, Photos by our still photographer and all-hands-on-deck crew member Karl Schmidt. https://searchingforsequoyah.com/ https://turtle-island.com/product.../searching-for-sequoyah/ https://turtle-island.com/searching-for-sequoyah-trailer/

Production Photo Archive #20. Pt 1 "Searching for Sequoyah." National PBS Premiere Fall, 2021. Producer/Director/D.P./Editor. 2016 filming locations: Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Cherokee (Qualla Boundary), NC; Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, Vonore, TN; and the Cherokee Nation, Tahlequah, OK. Includes Sequoyah descendants group interview. https://searchingforsequoyah.com/ https://turtle-island.com/product-category/searching-for-sequoyah/ https://turtle-island.com/searching-for-sequoyah-trailer/

After moving to California in July, 1983, I enrolled in some Media Production, Film Studies and Gen Ed classes at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, CA while waiting for my California one year residency before transferring to SFSU. I started classes at Foothill in the fall of 1983 and just missed the famous Maximum Louie Louie marathon at Foothill's radio station KFJC earlier that summer. I was looking to make new friends and was a big punk/post-punk/new wave music fan at the time so I gravitated to KFJC right after I discovered it on campus. There was a long waiting list for D.J. slots and I knew I was only gonna be there a year before transferring to SFSU, so I joined KFJC's News Dept to try my hand at broadcast radio journalism, but mainly to meet new like-minded friends in the music scene. In the fall of 1984 I secured a Press Credential representing KFJC News Dept., which was about to be decimated to open up more time slots for music programing and students eager for a D.J. slot. The press badge got me into the 1984 Democratic National Convention at Moscone Center in San Francsico. What an eye-opener. It was a controversial time at KFJC and the current News Director, and by then a very close new friend, John Morrison was forced out and replaced by his assistant Francie Shaw. She was another new friend I had made at KFJC, along with Cathy Mariti and others. I lost touch with most of those friends over the years. I ran into Francie Shaw one time in Berkeley sometime in the late 1980s and the last time I saw John Morrison was in 1990 shortly after I got married and we were living in San Francisco. The only one I'm still in touch with is Cathy. We stayed in touch after graduating from SFSU in 1987, although there was a long gap in there after Ellen and I lived for about a year in the Seattle area in 1991. I filmed (video) President Jimmy Carter at The Flint Center, DeAnza Jr College, Cupertino, CA, on May 6, 1988. I have a pic of me but not of Jimmy Carter, no cell phone pics back in those ancient times ha ha. I've added some pics of Carter from the event. Good memories and fantastic experiences.

Here are the interviews I filmed with Winona LaDuke, Tony DePerry, Robin Mosay and Earl Ray during the 2009 Anishinaabeg (Ojibwa, Ojibwe, Ojibway, Chippewa) gathering on "Mooningwaanikaaning," which translates to "home of the yellow-breasted flicker" or "place of the golden-breasted flicker," called "Madeline Island" by the white invaders/occupiers. It is considered the ancestral homeland and spiritual center of the Lake Superior Ojibwe (Anishinaabe) people. Unfortunately I do not have the original footage, it was given to the museum on the island, and all I could find on my hard drives were these low resolution versions made for slow bandwidth website streaming in 2009. On a personal note, I have traced our Métis/Ojibway Souliere family branch from the island, back east to Drummond Island, MI, then over the border to Garden River First Nation, then to Michipicoten, ON, and finally to Pic River, ON. I've also included "screengrabs" from the other interviews and scenic footage.

Turtle Island Productions Demo Reel.

Turtle Island Productions LLC Demo Reel Samples of DP work and editing as well as clips from my documentaries.

Production Photo Archive #19: "Bad Sugar". Episode Producer/Director/D.P. for the national PBS documentary series "Unnatural Causes: Is Inequality Making Us Sick?, premiered in 2007-2008. Received the DuPont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. https://vimeo.com/841323564?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci

Production Photo Archive #18. Wadi Rum Desert, Jordan, 2013. Including our Bedouin Camp stay. Sample here https://turtle-island.com/memoir-of-a-choctaw-indian-pt-1/

Production Photo Archive #17: Director of Photography on "Hope Dream Team" for Elixir Entertainment's Producer/Director John Kuri. This was a 3D Camera production on a green screen stage and on location in the Los Angeles area in 2011.