Julian Black Antelope | Producer · Director · Actor · Writer · Showrunner | Herd of 1 Media
Representing the Buckskin, Black Horse family of the Weasel People, Julian Black Antelope aka “JBA” is a Canadian actor of First Nations/Central American and Irish descent. JBA’s performing career first began in the Canadian music scene before transitioning to acting in film and television in the early 2000’s. As a self-taught actor, JBA built the foundation of his career with an amalgamation of day player roles, stunts and working various crew positions on a steady stream of projects in southern Alberta including DreamWorks/TNT’s epic six-part mini-series Into the West (2005). JBA”s breakout role in a television series would come on the gritty and critically acclaimed Blackstone (2009). Four seasons of Black Antelope’s portrayal of Darrien Tailfeathers earned him several accolades including a Canadian Screen Award nomination.
In 2014 JBA was cast as “Mr. Kidd” in John Logan’s Penny Dreadful (2014) which took him overseas to Ireland and has since worked consistently nationally and internationally on Film and TV projects such as Dominion Creek (2015), Condor (2018), Dark Justice (2018), Hold the Dark (2018), Debris (2021), The Flash (2014), Prey (2022), Grendel.
An actor with a strong sense of physicality, Black Antelope often plays characters that combine stunt action with a larger-than-life or menacing presence, however his natural comedic sensibility has also been recognized in recent years with television roles in Jann (2019) including his own TV series that he created, wrote, directed and produced The Secret History of: The Wild West (2021) With his Secret History TM series Julian Black Antelope realized a 10 year dream of producing and creating entertaining, historical programming through the lens of Canadian First Nations. This very personal series in addition to his several producing credits on independent feature film projects like Empyrean (2016) and True Fiction (2019) has cemented JBA to continue writing, directing and producing his own work as his Acting career continues to grow.
JBA is also the Creator, Founder, CEO and President of western Canada’s first subsidized Indigenous film training initiative, under the “one-off/proof of concept” single purpose entity Counting Coup Indigenous Film Academy wherein June 2022 he assembled and engaged a management team to execute a successful trial program in partnership with Old Sun Community College and the Siksika Nation.
This “one-off” trial program was based on his own Production company’s internal Pathfinders Training program (Est.2016) which was expanded out and incorporated in late fall of 2023 into the BIPOC training entity Pathfinders Film Institute Corp. (“PFI”). PFI offers subsidized comprehensive and certified film production training programs for aspiring BIPOC storytellers to aid in pursuit of a career in the film and television industry.
As an Indigenous led company JBA recognizes inner city training may not be a viable option for aspiring Indigenous creatives in remote communities. This is why PFI puts a strong focus on forging pathways to connect remote Indigenous communities with the industry to provide the same offered training opportunities by traveling in and/or providing online instruction.
Julian Black Antelope’s commitment to his craft, cultural heritage, and fostering the next generation of Indigenous/BIPOC talent through his work on his own projects or through PFI make him an inspiring and influential figure in the entertainment world today.
He credits his sanity, strength and foundation to his spiritual commitment to his cultural practices and is forever grateful for the unwavering support from his wife Tracy and their three beautiful daughters, Sparrow, Emiko and Romin.
IMDB
Can you please provide a brief overview of your journey in the film and TV industry?
1992- I got my first taste of the industry doing background work on a few Vancouver based film and television series. I thought it was pretty cool but I was too focused on playing music at the time to see any connection.
2003- After moving back to Alberta I jumped onto a Stephen Spielberg mini-series doing background, stunts, acting and crew work and wallah! the lights came on for me. I was too broke to afford acting or film schools, so instead worked a variety of crew positions and doing stunts on a steady stream of Alberta productions while I worked on my acting chops, and thinking about trying my hand at writing etc.
2007- Wrote and developed for APTN my first television concept–almost greenlit for production.
2009- I started writing, directing and producing my own short films and documentaries, which inevitably lead to producing larger projects and full-length feature films.
2010- I stepped back entirely from crew work to act full time which took me around the world but still managed to keep one foot in the producing arena with various projects.
2016- I Incorporated my own production company (Herd of 1 Media) and while still acting full time, created and developed my second television concept which ironically, I was able to leverage into a development broadcast license due to my acting profile (go figure).
2018 After two (2) years of re-developing my IP in tandem with the broadcaster I was able to successfully secure my first licence for production. I’ve been acting, creating, writing, directing and producing full time ever since.
What are some of your key accomplishments?
#1: From a personal perspective: Kicking adversity in the face by being self taught at everything I do and staying true to myself.
#2: As a film maker: Aside from my Secret History TM series, out of all the feature films I’ve produced “True Fiction” definitely stands out. It was written and directed by a brilliant artist, Braden Croft and was one of those stories that as a producer you had to get really innovative with available resources due to a lean budget without sacrificing the creative. As things turned out, it stayed on budget, had awesome production value and did exceptionally well in sales.
#3: As a community member:
Ever since I started working in film back in 2004, I had the dream of creating a school for First Nations storytellers to learn everything from acting and stunt performance to writing, directing, producing and every job in-between that it takes to tell a story in this medium.
In late 2020 I created and founded western Canada’s first paid Indigenous film training initiative which was officially launched in June 2022 as a “Proof of Concept” under the name of Counting Coup Indigenous Film Academy (“CCIFA”). As CEO and President, I assembled a management team to execute a successful trial iteration in partnership with Old Sun Community College and the Siksika Nation.
This “one-off” trial program was based on my own Production company’s internal Pathfinders Training program (Est.2016) which was branched out in fall of 2023 when I founded and incorporated the BIPOC training entity Pathfinders Film Institute Corp. (“PFI”). PFI offers subsidized comprehensive and certified film production training programs for aspiring BIPOC storytellers to aid in pursuit of a career in the film and television industry.
What are your current and/or future projects?
Currently: prepping to shoot the third season of my Secret History TM series and developing a scripted series that’s looking to move into production next year.
In the not too distant future: A couple of larger scale projects that I’m keeping close to the vest for now
Have there been any key moments in your career that changed your trajectory?
Reflecting on my journey as a creator, writer, director, producer and actor, I can confidently say that every moment I spent pushing myself to learn, grow, and take creative risks has profoundly shaped and defined my trajectory in the industry- and will always continue to do so. But if I had to choose one, I’d say it was having the courage and tenacity to take the first step into a territory that most think is unattainable.
