Corey Payette is an interdisciplinary storyteller, writer, composer, producer, director in TV and film. He is a member of the Mattagami First Nations, with French Canadian and Irish ancestry, and lives on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl'ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples.
Known for his deeply moving, large-scale original musical creations, Payette’s work challenges the public’s notion of what musicals can be, inserting Indigenous perspectives and narratives into mainstream spaces, igniting conversations that inspire social change. Payette’s work explores themes of colonization, Indigenous language revitalization, cultural healing, reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and the complexity of historic and contemporary Indigenous experiences across music, theatre, and film. Payette’s deeply collaborative, multi-disciplinary, and community engaged creation process has been integral in shining a light on stories that have gone unheard for generations. In 2021, Payette received the inaugural BC Award for Reconciliation, created to honour those who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, integrity, respect, and commitment to furthering Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples in the province of British Columbia.
Payette recently founded Starwalker Pictures Inc. to develop and produce Indigenous stories for TV and film. He has a long history of leadership as Artistic Director of Urban Ink since 2014, an Indigenous and Culturally Diverse creation company in the Downtown East Side of Vancouver, past Artist-in-Residence and Associate Artist with English Theatre at Canada’s National Arts Centre, and founding Artistic Director of Raven Theatre, focusing on his new musical works. Payette has served as Artistic Associate with Full Circle: First Nations Performance, Talking Stick Festival, and The Indigenous Cycle at the National Arts Centre, resulting in the creation of a new department of Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre, which launched its inaugural season in 2019.
As a musical creator, Payette writes the music, lyrics, story, and directs his productions. His original musical Children of God has been performed across Canada since 2017, his second musical Les Filles du Roi (The King’s Daughters) written in English, French, and Kanien’kéha (Mohawk) with Julie McIsaac had its world premiere in 2018. In 2021, Payette directed a film adaptation currently in post-production to be released in 2023. In 2021, Starwalker began development under Warner Media / Access Canada writer’s program and is currently being adapted into a feature film.
As a director, most recently he made his feature film directing debut with Stories that Transform Us which premiered at VIFF in 2021. Upcoming, Guide My Way concert film and Les Filles du Roi feature film to be released in 2023. Corey holds a B.F.A. in Music Composition from York University, and composed the film score to the documentary AMIN AMIR (OMNI TV). He is the past Grand Chief of the Board of Directors of the Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance (IPAA) and past board member of Vancouver Aboriginal Health Society providing mental, physical, and spiritual relief to Indigenous peoples on the DTES (Vancouver, BC). He is the recipient of the John Hirsch Prize from the Canada Council, Fleck Fellowship from the Banff Centre, has won 3 Ovation Awards and 2 Jessie Awards for his writing and directing work. www.coreypayette.com