PRODUCING TEAM

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Tamara Podemski is an Anishinaabe (First Nations) and Ashkenazi (Jewish) multi-disciplinary performer whose work has spanned over three decades on stage and screen. She is best known for her acting roles in Dance Me Outside, The Rez (CBC), Ready or Not (Global), Reservation Dogs (FX) and the Broadway company of RENT. In 2007, Tamara won the Special Jury Prize for Acting at the Sundance Film Festival for her role in Sterlin Harjo's Four Sheets to the Wind, which also garnered her a Film Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Tamara stepped behind the camera in 2018, writing two seasons of the Indigenous documentary series Future History (APTN), earning her a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Factual Writing. The following year, she joined the Indspire Awards (CBC) as writer and researcher for this nationally-televised variety program, which was nominated for a Canadian Screen Award for Best Biography Series. 

In 2020, Tamara was tasked with bringing the quirky character of Alison Trent to life on Coroner (CBC), a role that won her a Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress (2021), an ACTRA Award for Outstanding Performance (2021), as well as another Canadian Screen Award for Best Guest Star (2022). She then went on to star opposite Phoebe Waller-Bridge in Run (HBO) and then opposite Josh Brolin for two seasons as Sheriff Joy in Outer Range (Amazon).

After years of experience in both Canadian and US markets, Tamara claimed her space as a producer in 2023, launching Blackbird Productions with her husband Jamie Thomas King. From its passion for provocative and diverse storytelling to its engagement of healthy workplace processes and practices, Blackbird is committed to amplifying the conversation of mental health and trauma recovery, while providing safe spaces for dialogue and discourse through all levels of production. 

As an Indigenous storyteller, Tamara continues to advocate for authentic representation, inclusion in-front and behind the camera, as well as challenge the colonial narrative pervasive in the entertainment industry.  

Photo credit: Lori Dorn 

Jamie Thomas King is an award-winning English-American actor and filmmaker whose work spans stage, film, and television, and whose personal story has fueled global advocacy. Trained at the National Youth Theatre and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Jamie began his career on stage, starring in the Royal National Theatre’s production of Sir Alan Bennett’s The History Boys. He later returned to classical theatre with the Royal Shakespeare Company in John Ford’s Love’s Sacrifice.​ 

On screen, Jamie has built an international career with roles including Guy Mackendrick in the Golden Globe and Emmy winning Mad Men (AMC) and Sir Thomas Wyatt on The Tudors (Showtime). He has appeared in BAFTA and Oscar recognized films such as Mike Leigh’s Mr. Turner and Tomas Alfredson’s Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and guest-starred in popular network series including Private Practice (ABC), Elementary (CBS), Call the Midwife (BBC), and Murdoch Mysteries(CBC). Most recently, Jamie appeared as Zachary Quinto’s love interest in season two of Brilliant Minds (NBC).​ 

In 2016, after the tragic loss of his son Benjamin due to preventable medical error, Jamie took a hiatus from entertainment to advocate for patient safety, delivering keynote addresses, leading workshops, and founding The Benjamin King Foundation.​ 

In 2023, Jamie co-founded Blackbird Productions with his wife Tamara Podemski. Their debut short film, The Light Before the Sun won multiple international awards on the festival circuit including earning Jamie a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Performance in a Live Action Short Drama. The film is now in development to become a feature. 

Currently, Jamie is writing the second draft of his screenplay inspired by the book, Joshua's Story: Uncovering the Morecambe Bay Maternity Scandal by James Titcombe, which has been optioned by Blackbird Productions.​ Jamie continues to demonstrate versatility, moving between advocacy and socially impactful filmmaking, bringing depth and humanity to every project he undertakes.

Photo credit: Lori Dorn