The Firecracker Department

Adeline Bird is the true definition of a multi-hyphenate, unapologetic artist. As an actor, storyteller, director, author, podcaster and social worker (just to name a few), Adeline has taken all of her experiences in her various disciplines and used them to fuel her creativity and find her voice. She tells Naomi and Jennifer how important her Afro-Indigenous identity is, and leads them into a riveting conversation about the importance of rest amidst the hustle. While working on her current project, a sleep podcast called “Rest and Resurge”, Adeline creates decolonial stories, worlds without police and patriarchy, and encourages her listeners to rest through the constant struggle of having to explain themselves. She also shares how she strongly believes that as artists, we need to hold our stories in our heart, how our characters are spirits that live inside us, and that the world will conspire to make them come to life. And through practiced rest and relaxation, Adeline believes we can rise up stronger and be as unapologetic as we desire.

Documentary filmmaker Tasha Hubbard (We Will Stand Up, Two Worlds Colliding) always knew she wanted to be in the arts to help amplify and uplift Indigenous experiences. Although initially she was unsure where she fit in, when she met fellow Indigenous filmmakers Gil Cardinal and Doug Cuthand, her journey truly began under their mentorship. Throughout her career making documentaries, Tasha tells Naomi and Jennifer how she learned to give not only herself the space to heal and be supported, but also the brave subjects she features in her work. She’s also a seasoned academic, and shares the resiliency she developed as a single mom when she began teaching, and the village of people that helped raise her child. Tasha is embarking on a new journey as a narrative feature filmmaker with her upcoming project Birth of a Family (based on the documentary of the same name), and is reeling off of the success of her recent documentary film Singing Back the Buffalo. Even though Tasha has self-admittedly chosen to play the long game in her career, she shares insights on how the buffalo have inspired her to keep going, deal with hardship, find moments of joy, and always keep looking ahead.

For more information on the buffaloes, visit buffalosong.com.

To sign the buffalo treaty, visit buffalotreaty.com.

From a young age, actress and producer Jessica Matten (Dark Winds) has been focused on creating Indigenous communities to support and be of service to. From her first group Positive Beauty at the age of 13, supporting young Indigenous models with an undercurrent of mental health and wellness, to running programs with the Indigenous Film School and her own company 7 Forward Entertainment, Jessica is focused on consistently pushing others forward towards their goals and healing people through the arts. She tells Jennifer and Naomi about how coming from a multicultural background has given her the capacity to hold so much space for others, and how she’s learned to create discipline in doing so. As she’s grown older and gained more life experience, she also shares how her intuitive guidance and connection to her culture has helped her to better understand and identify the “silences” and traumas affecting Indigenous youth, and her hopes to affect change through action. Her commitment, grace, and intention to heal and be of service to others through the arts is admirable, and her philanthropic work has been able to guide her and trust that this is her purpose for being on this earth.

The extraordinary Keilani Rose (Shoresy) is embracing the lifelong journey of self-discovery to find her voice as an artist. Born and raised in Lheidli (The Place Where the Two Rivers Flow Together - also colonially known as Prince George, BC), she tells Naomi and Jennifer how her roots in dance gave her a safe space to find herself and morphed into other areas of artistry she’s used to tell powerful stories. She also shares how her Indigenous cultural values serve as a reminder that all areas of creativity are interconnected, and how we can honour different parts of ourselves and allow them to inform each other through art. Keilani also shares her personal process into discovery and reclaiming her spirit after she experienced a traumatic incident, and how the healing process informed her work moving forward. In this enlightening conversation, Keilani, Naomi and Jennifer connect on the discipline, focus, and freedom we can find in our creative work and look towards the various “rivers” of possibility that open up once we connect with our true selves.

In our kickoff episode for the second season of The Blaze Sessions, Naomi sits down with this season's curator, Jennifer Podemski. As a multi-hyphenate artist, Jennifer’s creativity knows no bounds, and she’s committed to highlighting the importance of cultural sensitivity when it comes to Indigenous content and shining lights on aspects of the industry that still make her angry in an effort to force change.

In this discussion with Naomi, Jennifer shares her views on the importance of grieving, how both grief and comedy exist next to each other, and her desire to bring people together in moments big and small. She also shares her hopes for this new season of The Blaze Sessions, where she hopes to introduce us to incredible Indigenous creatives that are “doing the coolest shit” to change the landscape of our industry and the world.

Welcome back to The Blaze Sessions brought to you by the Firecracker Department! Season two is here, and we're thrilled! Hosts Naomi Snieckus (Mr.D, The Madness, The Social, Second City Toronto) and the incredible Jennifer Podemski, ("Little Bird", "Reservation Dogs" and founder of Red Cloud Productions and The Shine Network) have curated inspiring, engaging, and refreshingly honest conversations with women and non-binary individuals at the top of their game in the industry. From sharing insights on their creative journeys to discussing how they're changing the world through their art, these talks are the perfect blend of real, raw, and fun. Get ready to ignite your passion, and join us for a blazing good time. Starting May 15th, you’ll get a new episode every 2 weeks! Find us at www.firecrackerdepartment.com and all your favourite podcast platforms.

For the past few years, performer and writer Alana Johnston has made it her mission to incorporate the theme of self-esteem into her artistic work. As the host of The Self-Esteem Party Podcast (on which this episode was first featured), she’s learned that the things we struggle with in regards to self-esteem might follow us forever, and that’s totally okay.

She also shares how her perspective has shifted after some major events occurred in her life in recent years, and how she’s now using her art to work through those traumatic moments. 

Through this brave discussion, Naomi and Alana speak about the importance of surrounding yourself with people who support your artistic endeavours, bringing yourself back to reality through positive self-talk, and embracing your weirdness. And Alana shares that now - more than ever - her ultimate goal is to be the funniest she’s ever been.

Anne Rab’s improv career all started when she met a clown and stumbled into the art form that would change her life.

Although it was difficult to make the transition from a city where she had stability and comfort to one completely unknown, she tells Naomi that learned that she didn’t want to play it safe and to make the choice to just go for her dreams. 

Now, she carries this outlook through her teachings and thrives off of encouraging people to be comfortable with making mistakes and not worrying about “fucking it up” in her improv classes. 

Ultimately, Anne tells Naomi that her favourite thing about art and life is having people around, connecting, and even throwing some killer parties. And through all of the confusion and uncertainty that she felt when starting her career, that improv helped her discover - for certain - that this is all she’s ever wanted to do.

One thing’s for certain about improviser Nadine Antler is that her strength lies in taking care of people. 

From studying to be a social worker to putting on a decade-long improv festival and now running her own improv school, Nadine tells Naomi about her desire to help both actors and non-actors through the communication and boundary-setting skills that improv teaches. 

But despite committing to help others with this, she reveals that her personal challenge is her inner critic and the disappointment she faces when it rears its ugly head on stage and takes her out of the present moment. 

Although some of her shows go horribly wrong, she details how all she can do is pick herself up and continue on - and that making lists of how to improve helps her feel better. Even when improv can be challenging and scary, Nadine wholeheartedly believes that if you want to take a risk and try, there’s no need to wait for the right moment: that all you need to do is give yourself permission to do the thing you love.

With her wealth of experience as an actor, writer, improviser, and now a director, Vanessa Matsui always finds time to look back and thank her younger self for having the gumption and bravery to take chances. By stumbling through her experience creating, writing, directing, and acting in the award winning series Ghost BFF, Vanessa tells Naomi about how she learned to just keep going and follow through on her impulses in every role she played. She also recounts the discovery she made that all roads were pointing to her beginning to direct, and how much she loves that it allows you to access a different part of yourself. Naomi and Vanessa also have an enlightening conversation about the importance of looking back at your younger self and taking the time to grieve the dreams that didn’t come to fruition, before moving forward into the future. And although her fear and anxiety may take over in certain moments, Vanessa always reminds herself of the great advice she received when directing her first feature film Midnight at the Paradise: just take things frame by frame.