Filmmakers' Biographies

Lily E. Shangreaux - Co-Producer and Writer
Lily is Oglala Lakota from South Dakota. Born and raised on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, Lily was one of the first women admitted as a freshman, in 1970, to Princeton University. She graduated with a B.A. in psychology.

Lily began her video career in 1993, when she and Dan Bigbee founded BIG Productions. Since the founding of the company Lily has written and produced most of the company’s projects.

Prior to establishing the company, Lily worked for the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, as development associate. In this capacity she researched foundation and corporate prospects and developed proposals including budgets. Lily assisted with the design of a five million dollar capital campaign for the IAIA Museum and was instrumental in obtaining several large grants toward this campaign.

Dan Bigbee, Jr. - Co-Producer and Director
Dan is Comanche Indian from Oklahoma. He is producer, director, editor, videographer, writer and engineer for the company. Dan spent four years as a young boy in Ethiopia, where his father taught at the University at Alemaya. Upon returning to the U.S., he finished junior high in Maryland, and was accepted at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, NM, where he completed his high school diploma. Dan received his A.A. in Fine Arts from Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma. He has additional training from the U. S. Navy Photography School and has worked for over 16 years in and around various media including television, radio and video.

Prior to establishing BIG Productions Dan worked for several institutes of higher education, including Cameron University, Lawton, Oklahoma; Oklahoma State University; the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Kearney State College, Kearney, Nebraska. He served these institutions in many capacities from engineering to production crew.