HERON PRODUCTIONS LLC

Debra Roberts has lived and breathed arts and spirituality all her life.  Her work as an artist has taken her to England (where she lived for eleven years), Northern Ireland, Europe, India, Turkey, and various cities around North America. Her experience of the arts in service to multicultural communities (community building, expression, and education) profoundly impacted her, as does her friendship with elders from many traditions.

In the 1990’s, a meeting with Hopi elder Thomas Banyacya, a messenger of Hopi prophecy who spoke about the vital importance of women stepping forward into the world, also deeply touched her.  Prasad for Women, Talks for Fifth World Women was born in 2005 as a result of this amazing encounter.

In 1997, Debra, her husband Joe, and their cat Bo (Debra, Joe and Bo) moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina. After a month-long series of strong nighttime dreams about filmmaking (as well as seeing the movie Starship Troopers, which convinced her that anyone could do better than that), she started a documentary and multimedia company called Heron Productions LLC. And another profound dream in the fall of 1999 inspired Debra to found Little Pearls , a non-profit that makes “tiny films that open hearts and minds”.

In 2004 and 2005, after a series of epic health adventures, Debra took a sabbatical and went on a pilgrimage to southern India, the Hopi Mesas, and the Black Madonna region of southern France. These sacred places deepened her commitment to the arts as a strong beneficial force in the world. Also, during those pivotal years, the bees got her. Honeybees came into her life as a full-blown Fifth World Calling. She became a bee steward (or kept by her bees, as she puts it) and is now a passionate advocate, speaker and natural beekeeping educator. She started Holy Bee Press and you can follow her adventures on that website.

1998 TO PRESENT:

It has been a great privilege to create or co-create the following:

HOLY BEE PRESS, a crossroads of honeybee conversation and world bee salon.

THE HONEYBEE PROJECT.  A multi-media children’s education project on the subject of the honeybee.

PRASAD FOR WOMEN, a series of talks for women.

BIG MEDICINE FROM SIX NATIONS, editor of a book authored by Tuscarora elder Ted Williams, published by Syracuse University Press.

LITTLE PEARLS, a non-profit organization that creates “tiny films that open hearts and minds”. Founder..

CD (OPERATION SPONSOR-A-SOLDIER) for Tanya Wilson, teaching a holistic healing technique to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

MAMA’S MAGIC, documentary on poet, educator, and writer Glenis Redmond.

HONORING YOUR BELLY, instructional video of teacher / author Lisa Sarasohn teaching belly-energizing exercises drawn from yoga and other healing arts.

TURTLE ISLAND TALES, children’s educational / entertainment documentary on puppeteer Hobey Ford.

I CAN SEE CLEARLY NOW, educational / music video about air quality for middle school children.  For Mountain Air Quality Coalition, NC.

IT’S ALL ABOUT DREAMS, documentary / musical video for S.T.E.A.M. (Success Through Education and Motivation), after-school program for “at risk” teens.

TOBACCO PREVENTION, video for teens for S.T.E.A.M.

CAMELOT REAWAKENED:  A VISION FULFILLED, a documentary on composer / musician Richard Shulman and the creation of his visionary music for symphony orchestra, “Camelot Reawakened”.

ACE WHITEWATER RAFTING, revision of video promotional materials.

ECO TEAM, a children’s environmental education video for third graders.  For the Environmental Leadership Center, Warren Wilson College, NC.

BIODIVERSITY ALL OVER THE PLACE, a children’s environmental educational video for the Great Smoky Mountains Park, “Parks as Classroom” program.

SHINER ANTIORIO, promotional video for this American Sign Language interpreter and performance artist.

DO THE RIGHT THING, a documentary educating civic water engineers and citizens around North America on the dangers of lead in drinking water for infants and children.

HEAL ME, promotional video for Sisters of Mercy Urgent Care for use in their fund-raising and public awareness campaigns.

STEP SISTERS, promotional piece on the poetic dialogue on race and womanhood for poets Glenis Redmond and Patricia Starek.

FOCUS GROUP on PSA for The Gorilla Foundation.

WE ARE NEW MEXICO, series of English / Spanish TV PSAs for V.I.D.A., NM, for their public awareness campaign to change misperceptions and prejudicial thinking about Spanish speaking immigrants.

PARALLEL THINKING FOR JURY DELIBERATION, a documentary and companion guide for juries based on the work of Edward de Bono.

LIFE AS PEACE, a documentary featuring the wisdom of elders and exploring their understanding of what peace is (including Tuscarora / Iroquois elder, Ted Williams; Cochiti Medicine elder, Andrew Ahsona; Mary Lou Cook; Ann Dasburg, and others.  Ongoing.

PRIOR TO 1998:

THEATER

FOR THE LOVE OF MARGE AND WALLER, a forty-artist collaboration stage show and tribute to Debra Roberts’ parents at Diana Wortham Theatre, Asheville, NC.

COYOTE GATHERS HIS PEOPLE, a Native American sacred performance troupe, NM.  Performer.

THE NEW MEXICO LITERACY THEATER, a company touring pueblos, schools, prisons, and rehabilitation centers around the Southwest, promoting literacy.  Director, actor.

PLAYBACK THEATER, Santa Fe, NM.  Performer.

IMPROVISATIONAL THEATER workshop for Association for Experiential Education, Santa Fe, NM.

BEGINNING WITH WHO WE ARE NOW, Railyard Performance Center, collaboration with two other artists (dance and theater). NM.

PANTOMIME (theatre) productions, Plymouth, England.

DANCE

DANCE (African, Haitian), NM, CA, NC. Performer, choreographer, teacher.

DANCE performance, Lake Eden Arts Festival, Black Mountain, NC.

DANCE workshops for the Association of Transpersonal Psychology conferences, CA.

DANCE workshops in conjunction with Joe Roberts’ drumming workshops (various, national; adults and children)

MISCELLANEOUS ARTS

CHILDREN’S SUMMER ART SERIES, Oo-oonah Center, Taos, NM. Teacher.

MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAY, Waldorf School, Santa Fe, NM.  Writer, director.

FOUR WINDS INSTITUTE, workshops on creativity and intuition. Co-Director, Staff (theater, arts)

SKITS / PLAYS, since I was old enough to walk.  Writer, actor, director.

BORN:  Chicago, Illinois, 1952.
EDUCATION:  B.A., Indiana University, Bloomington, IND; Master Beekeeper, North State University.