Janelle Wookey
- Producer
- Writer
- Director
Janelle Wookey is the co-founder and Producer at Wookey Films. She oversees production and development, with one foot in creative and the other in executive affairs.
After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River Polytech (formerly Red River College) in Winnipeg, MB, Janelle produced her first indie-documentary, Mémére Métisse, with her brother Jérémie. The film opened Toronto's 2008 ImagineNATIVE Film Festival and was broadcast on CBC, Radio-Canada and APTN. Following the success of Mémére Métisse, she and her brother both worked at Radio-Canada in Winnipeg in news and special series. Working both behind and in front of the camera, Janelle had the opportunity to hone her skills alongside her brother / co-worker Jérémie. In 2013, they started Wookey Films.
In 2014, their film Treading Water won Best Short Documentary at the ImagineNATIVE Film Festival in Toronto. In 2016, Janelle was nominated for three Prix Gémeaux awards, including for Best Arts & Culture Documentary or Series for Wookey Films' Les boys du Ballet. As an active member of the Franco-Métis community, Janelle has participated in several cultural events and panels. In 2017, she was selected alongside Alanis Obomsawin and Colm Feore to sit on the 9 person committee tasked with selecting candidates for the new board and CEO of CBC / Radio-Canada. As an on-air personality, she covered the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics for APTN and co-hosted its nationally-broadcast Indigenous Day Live celebrations in 2017, 2018 and 2020.
In 2022, she won a Rockie Award at the Banff World Media Festival for 'A Nation and Her Mother', a short historical piece she wrote and starred in about the history of Métis people.