Georgina Lightning is Cree from Hobbema, Alberta, Canada. She has tackled nearly every aspect of filmmaking from being an acclaimed actor, producer, and most recently, a director and co-founder of Tribal Alliance Productions.

Georgina Lightning makes her directorial debut with Older than America, a film about the Indian Boarding School system. She says, “It’s about healing from boarding schools and what it did to us.”

In this interview she also talks about her children, stereotypes and the thing called Hollywood.

Sonny Grant: For those of us who don’t know who you are can you please tell us a little bit about yourself?

Georgina Lightning: I’m from the Cree Tribe in Hobbema, Alberta, Canada. I have been in LA for sixteen years now with my three kids-we moved there for the film industry. I moved there to transfer from my university. I was in the fine arts department there and transferred over to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. I did three years there and made it to the repertory company. I was their lead ingénue and managing my kid’s acting careers for several years. Then I got into producing and decided that I wanted to make films. I was getting frustrated and tired with what was available for Native Americans out there. Because there are no roles, you know? They’re one-dimensional. There was no complexity to any of the roles or any depth what so ever. So I think its time to take matters into our own hands. So I decided to start a production company with a partner of mine, Audrey Martinez. Together we started Tribal Alliance Productions. This film is in the process of finishing up its in post. Older Than America is our first film out of the gate. It’s a full feature.

SG: Do you think that an Indian actor has a responsibility to always play an Indian as opposed to something else? I mean, for example, Irene Bedard said that she always plays an Indian because she wants the audience to see that there are Indian folks on film. How do you feel about that?

GL: I didn’t get into this industry to be an Indian actor. I came into this industry to be an actor. I studied for six years professionally and I wanted to be the best actor I can be. I’m an actor who happens to be Native American. I am very proud of my heritage, my culture, my first film will demonstrate that. But I think that I can play anything. I don’t think that I am limited to just being a Native actor. I think it is very important for our youth not to just see us portrayed on the big screen, but also to see that we can go beyond that. That not all we are is an Indian. I think that holds us down. I can look at myself as I am an equal to everyone else and compete on the highest level. I rather my peers be anybody who is on the top rather than who is the best in Indian country. I don’t think that is productive for us.

SG: Whose acting and directing style influenced your work? Whose work do you admire?

GL: I like Tony Scott…Quentin Tarantino. I like artists, even Emimem, he inspires me. Gary Oldham, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Halle Berry, anybody who has audacity inspires me. I can say what I need to say at any given time and grab that freedom and feel that you had the right to do that? That’s pretty awesome. That’s a true artist.

SG: You mentioned that you had children and you managed their careers. Would you please tell us a little bit about them?

GL: Yeah. Crystal, William and Cody Lightning (are my children).
Crystal started when she was four years old as a model in Canada. She was a model first then got into photography doing bridal shows, then commercials. She just loved the camera. She was a natural. She has crossed over. She has been able to walk in and get recognized as a professional actor and get cast, which is really rare for Native actors. That’s what we work towards in my family-moving forward, cutting the boundaries and stereotypes. Getting recognized as professional actors that know our craft; that we are on top of our game. Her last feature was American Pie: Band Camp, she was one of the two female leads. She just walked in, it didn’t say Native American, she just walked in booked the role and kicked ass! We are really proud of her.

Cody started when he was five. His first role was in Geronimo. He played Geronimo’s nephew Daklugie and from there he continued on. William was nine years old when he played Tecumseh. All three of the kids were in that. William played Tecumseh, Cody was Loud Noise, and Crystal was Star Watcher. They got to act together; that was pretty cool. Cody crossed over his last feature, which was Sterling Harjo’s Four Sheets to the Wind. He played Cufe Smallhill- he was the (male) lead in that. Prior to that he was in Manic. Mali Finn-one of my favorite women in Hollywood-cast that film. She’s given breaks to a lot of indigenous or minority actors, she recognizes talent. She will pitch them no matter what the role calls for. She booked Cody for Manic, the script called for a nine-year-old white boy with blond hair. Cody was a sixteen-year-old Indian boy with long hair. She told the director, “I see you’re going Caucasian with this, but trust me on this. I want you to audition this one boy.” He was cast on the spot and the director said that he couldn’t imagine anyone else playing that role. He’s still friends with Joseph Gordon Levitt.

William did two movies back to back. It was hard on him and he was like “I don’t want to act for a while.” He started script writing at 14. He decided he wants to be a director/ scriptwriter. He’s working on a novel now. That’s what he is putting his energy into now.

SG: Do you find that Native American males have an easier time as opposed to Native American females in the film industry?

GL: Absolutely! Hands Down! When I first got the Columbia Pictures version of the Geronimo script I liked it. Then it went through several rewrites and (was) revised and (after) there were no women in the script. It was like, “Are you kidding me?” There were no Apache women back then that were important? There were thirty Indian male roles and maybe one female role or they were extras. The TNT version had female roles. It wasn’t equal by any means but at least they had a few roles. It’s a man’s world. Sixteen percent of directors are women; less than one percent are Native American in the directors guild.

SG: What inspired your latest project Older Than America?

GL: The Indian boarding school subject matter tried to manifest itself in other projects but it just didn’t match. So I wanted to focus on the Indian boarding school subject and add a story to that instead of adding the boarding school thing to the subject. We built a story around that. We built characters, the whole Rain character, which is the lead female. She has these visions back into the past. To try to make it a clever film that touches on something that’s very important to me. My dad was a boarding school kid. I’m a product of the boarding school. My dad is a survivor of the boarding school. My aunts and uncles are survivors. I wish I could erase that. My aunts and uncles are still alive so they’re considered survivors. I’m a product of that.

SG: How long did it take to complete Older than America? From idea to production?

GL: Two years…at the end of the day the day the whole project would’ve taken two years.

SG: How did you get your work off the ground? That takes a lot of money right?

GL: I never, ever, focus on the obstacles. I never have otherwise I wouldn’t be where I am right now. I think I’ve got an amazing life. When you look at where I came from its just that there is no obstacles. I had no education and I decided I wanted to be an actor. But not just an “actor,” but the best that I could possibly be. What is going to take? That’s going to take professional training. What kind of training? Will I have to go to university or college? I ran away from home when I was fourteen so I had no education. So how are you going to go to college with no (primary) education? Get a high school diploma, apply to college and be the best. I was an honor student. So that got me accepted immediately into university. The fine arts department was hard to get into to. But I applied and they said yes immediately. I was always like, “How come we’re not doing more?”

The dean of the school actually called me in and said, “Why don’t you go to the better schools? Have you ever thought of going to the schools in the states?” Of course I hadn’t thought of that. It wasn’t that I wouldn’t but I just never thought of it. I thought it was available for me to get training in my own city where I lived and I owned a house raising my kids (but not elsewhere). That planted a seed and within a year I was divorced and I had a u-haul with my three kids and we went to LA. I had flown to the academy a few times cause I did research on the schools. I loved the American Academy. Robert Redford graduated from there and Danny Devito they a have a great alumni.

I loved the structure. It was really tough. Most colleges or universities you get accepted for a three to four year program. Once you get accepted you’re in. But this one you get accepted for one year only. You have to make the cut to go on to the second year and then you have to make the cut again to go on to the third year. Having three kids, moving from a different country that was a huge decision. What if I don’t get in? I have three kids and I would be stuck in California after giving up everything in Canada. I had to think, “No! I am going to get it! I’m going to work my butt off! I’m going to be the best that I can be!”

I got the Michael Toma award for the most progressed actor at the school. It was the first time a Native ever graduated from there. It was definitely the first time a Canadian won that award. If you believe in it I think that you can get it. I didn’t look at it like Oh my God I have to overcome all these obstacles. I mean there’s barely any women directors, especially Native ones, you know? So who cares! I don’t care (about obstacles) that doesn’t even bother me! There is nothing that could stop me…go forward!

SG: How did you pick you cast?

GL: I picked people that I highly respected. People that were in the field for a long time. The roles were developed because I wanted certain people (to play them). I wanted Tantoo Cardinal to be in my first film because she was in the very first film that I was ever in. Twenty years ago in Canada when I was just a kid. I have watched her career over the years. She has struggled. Look at the years, at the dues that I paid, that my kids have paid and it is nothing compared to what Tantoo or Graham Greene or Wes Studi have paid. It was even worse for them. The stereotypes, the (limited) availability of roles, and the bullshit they had to go through.

So I respect that. They held in there. If you look at IMDB they have 100 credits each. I would be so honored if they accepted a role in my first feature (and they did). Adam Beach has been one of my dearest friends for years since Smoke Signals. I wanted to bring in people that I love and care about and do this together. Tribal Alliance Production is not just going to make one film. I have a slate of projects. I want to make film after film and not stop. I want it to be sovereign productions and these people know that and they support this. These people (the actors) that I highly respect support my vision so why shouldn’t every one else in Indian Country? Chris Eyre told me “You’re an exception to the rule with how you got this film made, it’s going to be a model for how other (Native) filmmakers get theirs made.”

Hopefully it will be the biggest possible success it can be.

SG: When do you plan on releasing this film?

GL: We plan on doing the festival circuit first because this is a sovereign production, we shot this film under the radar, we didn’t put it in the trades. I got calls from sales reps and distribution companies who wanted to see the script before we shot it. We don’t know how they found out. But I was not interested. Maybe further down the road they can participate. A distributor might say, “We’d love to distribute it, but maybe you can change the ending?”

That’s where you start to lose control and that goes against the whole mission of the company. That’s when we would lose our sovereign status.

SG: What advice would you give to aspiring writers and filmmakers?

GL: There is no limit. You can accomplish any thing that you want. Just be artists, be true artists, and know that you own that right to be a true artist. Don’t tippy-toe about what you want to say, reveal or portray. I mean, I have a Sundance ceremony in my film that people are freaking out about saying it’s going to be controversial. But I don’t think that’s controversial because I am Native American, I’m a Cree Girl and we have Sundances on our Rez. Its about progress. It’s about moving forward. It’s about healing from boarding schools and what it did to us. It’s about thinking outside the box. I’m not worried about any of that. I’m an artist. I’m painting a picture only without a paint brush instead of a paint brush or canvas I’m using film.

Truth Hurts!

SG: Amen!