Producer Profile: Michelle Danforth (2007)

by Zach Oliva

When Michelle Danforth (Oneida) set out to begin her career, creating films was a distant aspiration. After graduating with an MBA focused on accounting, Danforth began working at Options for Independent Living, a non-profit organization that helps people with disabilities. Although she enjoyed marketing and finance, there was always a lingering interest in producing and creating films.

“One night I asked my dad if he wanted to watch the Academy Awards and he said, ‘Why? It’s all white people.’ Then I said, ‘Well, then we need to change that. We can’t wait for someone to do it.’”

So, about seven years ago Danforth decided to pursue her passion and took a low-paying part-time job as a production assistant at a Wisconsin public television station but kept her day job to support her family.

“It wasn’t that I was working there for the money,” Danforth said of her TV job, “I was working there for the experience.”

It was that experience that motivated her to work on her first documentary, a solo project entitled “She Who Walks,” the story of her 97-year-old grandmother and another 91-year-old Oneida woman. Although difficult, the project proved to be very rewarding.

"I had to do it all myself -- everything from the camera work to the editing,” Danforth said. “And I was able to produce a story that was actually very well received,"

The film was the starting point for Danforth’s career as an independent producer. Although she hopes to produce full time, she is currently still working in marketing then creates films in whatever time she has left. 

And changing careers wasn’t easy. Filmmaking traditionally doesn’t bring in a stable income or health insurance, which is cause for concern for a mother supporting her three children.

"In today’s age, with family and needing health insurance and all of those other things, those are very expensive things to actually have to afford on your own," she said.

But she is able to prevail with hard work and a flexible schedule.

"It's (about) being able to juggle and…time management,” Danforth said. “And it’s really worked out. My boss is very understanding, so I am a very fortunate individual."

Danforth’s production career has already gotten off to a great start. She was nominated for an Emmy in 2005 for her film “The Oneida Speak,” a short film based on handwritten journals from elders of the Oneidas of Wisconsin who participated in a federal writing project during the Great Depression. Danforth has expanded it into an hour-long documentary that will distributed by National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) starting Feb. 17.

The film was a personal reflection and educational project for Danforth, who poured over translations of nearly 800 steno books and ledgers written in Oneida in the 1930s-40s. The books were virtually forgotten until employees cleaning a space of a retired University of Wisconsin professor discovered them.

“Life was like ‘Little House on the Prairie’ back then,” said Danforth, citing the 1970s TV show. “And although things got really bad for the Oneida for awhile, we’ve always prevailed.”

Danforth is currently working with Frank Blythe and Syd Beane on a documentary about the Indian Civil Rights movement. The film will center around the National Indian Lutheran Board's effect on that movement and how that translates into today.

This Summer, Danforth will be working with Patty Loew (Bad River Band of Lake Superior Ojibwe), University of Wisconsin professor and producer of “The Way of the Warrior,” on producing a film called “Sacred Stick.” The documentary will be about the importance of lacrosse in Native culture. Danforth got the idea at a lacrosse game while reading a brochure about the world lacrosse championships. 

“I opened it up, and I was like wow! The Iroquois Nationals,” she said. “All of a sudden, at that moment, I was like- This has to be my next documentary.”

One of her other goals is to give back to the Native community.

“When I do a project, I give it my all because I want it to be the best it can be and because we need to be able to continue and grow more Native producers and tell these Native stories,” Danforth said.

Also, more Native producers would lead to more films about Native culture. Danforth feels this is important because there are so many great Native American stories that still need to be told.

“The more films and the more documentaries and the more established programs that we get out on the air the better we better the community by breaking stereotypes about who we are.”

Danforth certainly is a role model for anyone looking to create films. She is an example of someone who has worked hard to do what she loves.

“Even if somebody says no to a proposal or a different project, just keep going.  Keep working at it, keep refining it,” she said. “Refine your skills and just never give up.”