EXCLUSIVE: Actor and Native American advocate Sonny Skyhawk (Young Guns II, Nightbeasts) and actor/writer Jaime Gomez (Nash Bridges) have teamed to launch the production shingle Native Spectrum, which will focus on traditional and contemporary stories based on Native American and Latinx folklore and culture
Native Spectrum will concentrate on television projects and will later expand into feature films. Two projects currently on their list of pitches include two one-hour dramas. One is set in the multi-billion-dollar Indian gaming industry and the other drama focuses on the murder and disappearance of Native American and Indigenous girls and women.
“Exploring these stories of the American Indian and other indigenous cultures is both artistically long overdue and good business for the entertainment industry,” said Skyhawk, who is one of the few, if not only Native American member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. “Native American folklore and contemporary culture present a limitless trove of untapped stories and characters. With a vast array of network and streaming outlets looking for original content, Native Spectrum will be a bridge to that material and creatives. We don’t want one more generation of Native American youth to feel invisible in the mass culture. Today’s challenging times underscore the need for inclusivity and unity among all people and cultures in ways we never could have anticipated.”
“I believe that the performing arts are a mirror of what society is and, more importantly, can be,” said Gomez. “In these troubled times it’s imperative for the voiceless to be represented in the mass media. Our stories are not Native stories or Latinx stories, they are the stories of America, and are deeply woven into the tapestry of our great nation. It’s time for us to be heard.”
Skyhawk is a citizen of the Rosebud Sioux Nation of South Dakota who traces his familial lineage to Chief Spotted Tail, a Lakota War Chief. He has been an advocate for Native American talent for four decades through his American Indians in Film, Television and Music non-profit and has been a cultural consultant on numerous films including Windtalkers and Unforgiven.
Gomez’s heritage is Latinx and Tarahumara Indian. In addition to Nash Bridges, his film and TV credits include Training Day, Crimson Tide, Clear and Present Danger as well as Dexter, 90210, Rizzoli & Isles and CSI: Miami. He also wrote, starred in and directed the feature In the Blink of an Eye and helmed the documentary Quincy Coleman: It’s All in the Song.