NEWS RELEASE
March 31, 2005

Attention Entertainment Editors:

Brenda Chambers, Documentary Filmmaker, Wins a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media and Communications

KELOWNA, BC, March 31 /CNW/ - B.C. documentary filmmaker Brenda Chambers received a National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Media and Communications at a ceremony held in Saskatoon earlier tonight.

Chambers, 41, was honoured for her groundbreaking documentary series, Venturing Forth which airs on the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). Chambers produced the series herself utilizing a crew of aboriginal camera people and technicians.

Now in its fifth season, the Venturing Forth series travels the country to document the trials, and triumphs, of a growing number of aboriginal entrepreneurs and forward thinkers who are balancing the demands of the marketplace with their culture and language. Recent shows focus on new business relationships between First Nations and resource development companies.

A member of the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, Chambers grew up in Whitehorse. After graduating from high school, she worked for the Yukon government before leaving to study at Grant MacEwan College in Edmonton. After graduation she returned home to start up a local aboriginal television production company.

Today, Chambers is president of Kelowna-based Brenco Media Inc., an independent video and television production company. Self-financed, the company was started up in 1998 and has been recognized for its business acumen, with most of the money being invested back into the company.

"Aboriginal issues are no longer invisible in the mainstream media," says Brenda. "Today, we are making film and TV shows that cross over to reach aboriginal and non-aboriginal audiences." Canada's aboriginal population is growing fast and Chambers wants to help First Nations tell their stories in an authentic way.

The National Aboriginal Achievement Awards were created in 1994 to celebrate and promote positive role models to aboriginal youth. The awards are part of the work of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, a non- profit organization that encourages and empowers young aboriginal people in order to advance their educational and career opportunities.

In 2003, Chambers was named one of Canada's "Top-40, Under-40" Entrepreneurs. Also that year she won a Global Indigenous Entrepreneurs Award by the World Summit of Indigenous Entrepreneurs.

For further information: OR TO ORDER THE DOCUMENTARY SERIES, VENTURING FORTH: Email: production@venturingforth.com or Amanda Wade, Production Manager, Brenco Media Inc., (604) 813-5756

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Read about Venturing Forth in The Province Newspaper

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