Meadow Kingfisher voices the character Mel on a new series by The Property Brothers that will air on the Treehouse network at the end of this month. She is a member of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation, along with her dad and siblings. (submitted photo/Harlan Kingfisher)

By Susan McNeil

Youth actor

Sturgeon Lake girl acts in new Treehouse TV series

Mar 7, 2023 | 12:00 PM

Twelve-year-old Meadow Kingfisher, a member of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation, has always loved to perform dance and has turned her love of the arts into a burgeoning career.

Meadow is the voice behind a character named Mel on the Builder Brother’s Dream Factory, an animated series created by The Property Brothers that will air on the Treehouse TV network in several weeks.

“She’s really fun, creative, she loves to draw and skateboard and I think she likes to scare her friends with Indigenous creature stories,” Meadow said of her character in a telephone interview from her home in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta.

Meadow’s mother, Madison is her manager and says her daughter kind of fell into acting two years ago.

“We weren’t really looking for her to start acting. She’s always loved to perform and she’s been a dancer every since she was three and powwow danced when she was two,” Madison said.

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Meadow Kingfisher has been dancing at powwow since she was two. That love is turning into a career at age 12. (submitted photo/Harlan Kingfisher)

It was the pandemic and the stopping of activities that led to Meadow being unable to perform the dance routine she worked on for her class.

The family saw a callout on social media looking for Indigenous dancers and artists for a project in Alberta.

Madison asked Meadow if she wanted to perform her lyrical solo in the living room as a chance to perform the piece she had been working on.

They filmed the solo and submitted it and then got an email from the casting director who was very impressed with how much emotion her solo had so they asked her to act a scene.

When that job was done, she ended up with an agent in Vancouver and now has another in Los Angeles to find her work.

“This was one of the most exciting jobs she’s done so far. She’s been working on it for over a year,” Madison said.

To do her character on the new show, Meadow goes to a local studio for the voice work after she has learned the lines.

Because it is a Property Brother’s series, the two main characters are twin brothers who build, along with their friends.

Meadow Kingfisher plays Mel in a new series that will air on Treehouse on March 26 at 9:40 ET and stream on Stack TV. (submitted photo/Harlan Kingfisher)

Meadow said she and her younger sister like to build fairy houses outside in the summer and she gets acting tips from her six-year-old brother. An older brother in his teens hasn’t expressed an interest in acting.

Harlan grew up in Sturgeon Lake, just north of Prince Albert and all four of his children are members of the band.

Sturgeon Lake and the surrounding community are sharing in the excitement and are very supportive, he said. It was only days ago that the family was allow to publicly talk about Meadow’s role. The company decides when cast members are allowed to go public.

“We’ve been holding back for the past year while she’s been working on it but once we shared, all our family and friends have been sharing and even big Indigenous organizations have been sharing,” he said.

A big bonus is that Meadow as an Indigenous actor plays an Indigenous character.

“You don’t really see that, that much,” Harlan explained. “She’s being represented as an Indigenous girl so it’s going to be pretty big in the Indigenous community view.”

Now with her own job, Meadow now has money to spend on going on trips, or shopping, but a big chunk is being saved.

Some will help pay for her dance classes and even a recent dance convention in Los Angeles.

Union requirements for child actors mean a large portion of her earnings go into a protected trust that she can access when she’s 18.

“It’s so wonderful. She’s going to have a little fun but it’s going will help her start her adult life,” said Madison.

She has a retirement plan and must pay into a pension, even at 12.

For her ideal job, Meadow wants to act in a Disney production that lets her dance and act at the same time.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com