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HISTORY

InterTribal Entertainment was founded in 2000 by the late, legendary actor and musician Floyd Red Crow Westerman, who, while editing a documentary at SCIC's Los Angeles office, approached SCIC Executive Director Paula Starr and proposed the idea of having the organization offer multimedia training to American Indians interested in the entertainment industry.

Given that one of SCIC's primary objectives is workforce development for the Native community and given that the entertainment industry is the third largest employer in Los Angeles, it seemed only natural for the organization to begin targeting Hollywood in its employment and training initiatives.

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From that point, ITE grew out of a shared vision of the Native American social development community, a collaborative effort of Floyd Westerman (Sisseton-Wapheton Sioux), Paula Starr (Cheyenne), Syd Beane (Mdewakanton Dakota/Flandreau Santee Sioux), director of the National American Indian Development Corporation and Chuck Banner of BannerCaswell Productions.

With this collective support, ITE became a founding member of the Native Media and Technology Network, which includes Fox Entertainment Group, Native American Public Telecommunications and National Geographic's All Roads Film Project.

From 2002 to 2004, ITE in association with Fox Diversity Development provided instruction in basic film production for high school and college age Native American students. In 2003, ITE produced its first documentary project, "Urban Pow Wow" overseen by Banner and filmed by students from ITE's training classes. The world premiere of the documentary was hosted by Fox Diversity Development and screened at Fox Studios in Los Angeles.