Bird Runningwater
Bird Runningwater belongs to the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribal Nations, and was raised on the Mescalero Apache Reservation in New Mexico. He is a Producer and Executive Producer for film and television and most recently signed a first look deal to create content with Amazon Studios. He is currently serving as a Co-Executive Producer on the TV show "Sovereign" currently in development with Ava DuVernay, Warner Brothers Television, and Array Filmworks. He has other projects in development with Showtime Networks and Amazon Studios. Prior to launching his producing career, Runningwater guided the Sundance Institute’s commitment to Indigenous Filmmakers for 20 years nurturing new generations of filmmakers through the Institute’s Labs and Sundance Film Festival. The films championed by Runningwater have put Indigenous Cinema into the global marketplace. Prior to departing Sundance Institute, Runningwater served as the Director of Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program; Diversity, Equity and Inclusion; and Artist Programs. Under his tenure 154 different Indigenous filmmakers were mentored and supported through Sundance Labs, Grants and Fellowships. More than 119 films written, directed and produced by Indigenous filmmakers were curated by Runningwater to premiere at Sundance Film Festival. In the last 10 years of his tenure, Sundance Institute welcomed artists representing more than 95 different Indigenous Nations from around the world into its programs.
Runningwater is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences and serves on the boards of directors of Illuminative and the Arctic Indigenous Film Fund. He was recently appointed to serve on the Library of Congress’ National Film Preservation Board, and is a past member of the Board of Jurors for the George Foster Peabody Awards. In Time Magazine’s 2019 Optimist Issue, Runningwater was listed among “12 Leaders Who Are Shaping the Next Generation of Artists''. Last year he was honored by the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission as the Spirit of Creativity Honoree for Native American Heritage month for his outstanding contributions to Los Angeles’ American Indian and Alaska Native Community and the Los Angeles community at large. Runningwater began his career in media 26 years ago as a Program Associate for the Media, Arts and Culture Program at the Ford Foundation in New York where he helped fund non-commercial radio, tv and film work across the US and around the world in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Russia. He is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma with degrees in Journalism and Native American Studies, and he received his Master of Public Affairs degree from the University of Texas at Austin’s Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs.