Mushkeg Media's president Paul M. Rickard is an Omuskego Cree from Moose Factory in Northern Ontario. For the past ten years, he has been working as a producer, director and cameraman in collaboration with independent production companies and organizations such as Nutaaq Media Inc. Wildheart Productions, Wawatay, CBC North and the National Film Board of Canada. Now Paul is venturing into the area of independent production.

Paul studied radio and television production at the University of Western Ontario School of Journalism before joining Wawatay Native Communications Society as a television producer.

In 1994, he went south to Montreal to train as a camera operator with the National Film Board of Canada. In this capacity, Rickard did cinematography on several NFB documentary films for broadcast, including Multiple Choices (Alison Burns), and First Nation Blue (Dan Prouty). He worked on a number of other independent productions, and in 1996 was producer/director of the CBC North TV series Maamuitau.

In 1996, he wrote, shot and directed his first film, entitled Ayouwin: A Way of Life. This documentary about Rickard's father, a trapper in Moose Factory, Ontario, was produced by Wildheart Productions for broadcast on the TV Ontario Aboriginal series.

In 1997, he directed Okimah at the National Film Board. This film focuses on the knowledge handed down by Cree hunting leaders, the okimah, and stresses the importance of the annual goose hunt to the survival of traditional Cree culture. Released in 35 mm, it premiered at the Vancouver Film Festival in 1998. In 1999, he directed and CO-produced Finding My Talk, a pilot for the 13 part series; Finding Our Talk, on APTN, now in its second season.