Canadian-based producer and philanthropist Therese “Tag” Goulet has provided financial support for hundreds of creative individuals and projects. She is also the creator of the upcoming reality television series “The Gift”, where she appears under the title ‘The Sugar Mama’ as she watches multi-talented creatives competitively showcase their skills in hopes of earning a gift of $100,000 from her. Beyond the show, Tag has been a part of several organizations dedicated to fostering the growth of creatives, including the Calgary International Film Festival, Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, and the Film Independent Arts Circle to name a few. To learn more about Therese “Tag” Goulet and her upcoming reality series, read on.

Where are you based?
Calgary, Canada.

Congratulations on your upcoming television series “The Gift,” we can’t wait to watch! What inspired you to forge your path within the entertainment industry and create the show?
The inspiration came after I’d spent many years working as an author and motivational speaker focused on helping people achieve their dreams. About 10 years ago, approaching retirement age, I realized I could help people achieve their dreams in a more direct way, by giving them something people love a lot more than advice – money!

I was already giving financial gifts to people I knew (I don’t have children of my own), but wanted to do more. I started looking for people seeking support on crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter. My goal was to help as many creative people as possible, which is how I ended up giving financial gifts to hundreds of filmmakers (my initial goal was 100 indie films in 5 years), musicians, visual artists, performers, and other creatives.

I soon discovered “no creative has only one project in them” and people I had helped fund – plus people they knew – returned to ask me for more. Soon I was receiving hundreds of requests for financial gifts and realized that what I was doing – personally funding everyone’s creative projects – was not sustainable.

That’s because there are literally millions of people who have their own creative dreams (78% of the U.S. population consider themselves to be creative, according to a 2024 survey) and many would love to know how to get financial support for those dreams. That’s when I had the “a-ha!” moment to create the TV series that became “The Gift” and reached out to my sister and producing partner, Dr. Lolly de Jonge, a human development expert who became my co-star on The Gift.

Can you tell us a few things we can expect to see from the show?
You can see what happens when some of the most talented people on the planet spend ten days living together while competing against each other for a gift of $100,000.

One question I hear a lot is: “How do people with such different talents compete against each other? How do you decide who wins?” It really was a challenge choosing among a stand-up comic who got the golden buzzer on Canada’s Got Talent, a special effects makeup artist with 100 million social media views, an internationally renowned classical pianist, a circus artist who swallows swords and eats fire, and other multi-talented creatives!

I wanted a “real” reality show, so there were no second takes. In other words, if I screwed up, I couldn’t say “hey, let’s do that again”. In episode 6, viewers will see something embarrassing which turned into something incredibly moving. As Dr. Lolly says to the creatives at one point “I think that miracles have happened here” and there were many times it felt like magic to me – both the breathtaking performances and the real human connection.

We made sure to infuse every aspect of our production with Indigenous values and didn’t want to pit the creatives against one another. The style of the show is much more collaborative than traditional reality shows and has vibes of The Great British Baking Show as our creatives got very close to each another.

Finally, have at least one box of kleenex ready when you watch episode 7. (I watched it multiple times in post-production and cried every time.)

What are your thoughts on being a Sugar Mama?
I smile every time someone calls me that! I’m known for having a sweet tooth and The Sugar Mama nickname also works as a double entendre for my role as a matron of the arts. There’s also something powerful in claiming a controversial nickname with intention. Sugar isn’t just about indulgence: to me it’s about generosity, warmth, and making life a little more sustainable and sweet for others, especially artists whose work feeds the culture long before it feeds them.

I love this description that someone I admire wrote about me: “Being a Sugar Mama becomes a philosophy, one where you’re tending creative ecosystems, funding beauty and truth, and acting as a steward.”

What are some of your top tips for success in creative industries?
One thing I think is hard for some creatives is to ask for help from other people. But as time and experience have shown me, there’s no way you can achieve as much alone as you can achieve working with a group of talented people. You don’t need to do everything yourself! Surround yourself with a network of people you trust and love. (And if you can pay them anything at all, that’s even better!)

It’s also important to take action. It sounds obvious, but you probably know some people who spend their days dreaming instead of doing. As Lao Tzu said: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” You don’t need to walk a thousand miles today. Just take one step today, another tomorrow, and keep going.

Community investment is a prominent passion of yours as you’ve funded and championed hundreds of different creatives. How do you find and choose what projects to support?
Like many philanthropists, I started by supporting the young people I knew who were creating and performing. Then I started looking for creative people seeking support on crowdfunding sites like Indiegogo and Kickstarter. I chose people who were actively creating, not just those with a dream of creating.

Now I’m finding people and projects to support through The Gift TV series. Although I’m no longer personally receiving pitches for financial support, I encourage people to apply as a cast member when we put out a casting call for season 3 of The Gift. We also plan to expand the series to other countries, like Got Talent, so I encourage anyone interested to sign up at our website for updates.

When deciding on who/what to back, are there certain things you look for? What tips would you give creatives to help them find backing?
When I’m surprised and delighted, I want to be involved in helping that person create! I look for people who are doing something unusual, in a way that feels authentic and moves me. When you are appealing to a prospective funder like me, if you can make them laugh, cry, gasp, get chills, or otherwise feel something, you will be on your way to having that person support your dreams.

I will give a disclaimer that this won’t work with everyone. Some arts patrons will expect you to fill out forms and flow charts explaining in great detail how you will spend every dollar of their money. These individuals and organizations may require you to invest many hours in applications for grants that you have only a slim chance of receiving. Overall, I think that process is a terrible thing for creativity. It wastes so much time and energy that could be spent creating and making the world a better place.

You’re a co-founder of Next Generation Indie Film Awards. Can you tell us about this organization and its goals? What inspired you to start it?
The Next Generation Indie Film Awards (NGIFA) was created to recognize the best of indie filmmakers around the world. Although I provided funding as a co-founder, the real work of creating the organization came from my incredibly talented sister Catherine Goulet, Andrew Jenkins (who also appears on The Gift), and host Calum Worthy.

In past years, NGIFA awarded the Indie Luminary Award to directors Rian Johnson (Knives Out) and Oscar winner Jane Campion and an “Indie Darling” Award to actress Natasha Lyonne. Each of these incredible talents shared words of wisdom with indie filmmakers at the events. We were also fortunate to have an incredible partnership with Variety and, although the awards are currently on hiatus, we look forward to what the future holds.

An indie awards organization now in its 19th year is the Next Generation Indie Book Awards. I tagged along in co-founding it with visionary Catherine Goulet and literary agent Marilyn Allen and it continues to recognize the best indie authors and publishers in the world.

You’ve worked with several organizations dedicated to fostering the growth of creatives, including Calgary International Film Festival, Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers, Film Independent Arts Circle, and Santa Monica College Film Production Program. Can you tell us about your involvement in some of these organizations and why you decided to get involved with them?
Each of those organizations is doing wonderful work and I could go on and on about each. So I’ll focus on one organization that is especially close to my heart – the Santa Monica College Film Production Program, run by Program Director Salvador Carrasco, himself an incredibly talented filmmaker. I first encountered them when I found one of their film fundraising campaigns on the crowdfunding site Indiegogo and felt called to help. I was impressed with the video I saw of their work and the fact they had already won multiple awards for their films, including screening in the American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival.

If you don’t know the landscape of Los Angeles, Santa Monica College is a small film school that exists alongside giants USC and UCLA. Over the years, Salvador has grown that program exponentially and now, SMC’s film production program is ranked amongst the top film programs in the entire United States according to Movie Maker Magazine. I’m proud to play even a small part in the incredible work Salvador is doing with his students.

Indigenous representation is another passion of yours. What do you hope to see for the future of the entertainment industry regarding representation?
When we made The Gift, we wanted to be sure to do it in a way that embodied the Indigenous values our production company was founded on and infuse them into every aspect of the production.

I hope to see an entertainment industry that understands representation not as optics or inclusion quotas, but as a fundamental shift in authorship and values. Unscripted television claims to reflect “real life,” yet it has long been shaped by a narrow framework and puts limits on how audiences see others and how communities see themselves.

As my sister Dr. Lolly de Jonge so eloquently puts it, “The future our production company is working toward centers the voices of BIPOC, 2SLGBTQ+ and people of other equity deserving groups not just on screen, but in how stories are conceived, produced, and held.”

You’re a member of the Canadian Metis community and previously the Calgary Aboriginal Urban Affairs Committee for the City of Calgary. Can you tell us a bit about this committee and your involvement?
The Métis people are one of Canada’s three Indigenous groups. Our nation was formed from intermarriage of First Nations women with European fur traders. Once known as “half breeds” we developed a distinct culture I am proud and grateful to be part of.

Over the years, my involvement has primarily been one of support, either as a volunteer or financial supporter for the United Canadian Métis Nation. Through the publishing company owned with my sister Catherine, we have published books on the Métis people written by our parents, Métis elder George and Terry Goulet, including The Métis: Memorable Events and Memorable Personalities. Now my siblings Dr. Lolly de Jonge and John McDougall-Goulet and I have founded IndigeKin Productions to create films and TV series celebrating Indigenous values.

What advice do you have for young girls wanting to break into a creative industry?
My advice for young people is to follow your heart, take risks, and ignore those who say you can’t do something. Remember that you have two people you need to be accountable to: your older self and your younger self. Your younger self should dream without limits. Don’t let fear make you settle for less. Your older self is the one who will inherit the outcome of your dreams and be grateful that you pursued them. As the author Mark Twain wrote:

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Are there any upcoming projects you are currently working on that we should be on the lookout for?
Yes! Be on the lookout for the launch of The Gift TV series in 2026. We have filmed the first two seasons (under the working title “The Sugar Mama”) and Season 1 has already been picked up for streaming in the U.S. I can’t wait to show the world what we’ve been working on!

The series name is meaningful in multiple ways. Each creative has a “gift” of some kind (their talent), there is a gift of $100,000 (plus other unexpected gifts along the way), and I see the show itself, including Dr. Lolly’s wisdom and Indigenous aspects of the series, as a gift to the world.

It has been a crazy few years, and we expect more. How have you been staying positive?
Like many creative people, I live with depression, and can struggle to stay positive. Working with my sister and business partner, Dr. Lolly de Jonge has definitely helped, and I value her more than I can say. I know how fortunate I am to have such an incredibly kind and brilliant human development expert in the family to help with working through challenges! I also enjoy listening to others straight-talking motivators like podcaster Mel Robbins, which helps when I need a “kick in the butt” to tackle something tough.

What is your motto in life?
“My people will sleep for one hundred years, but when they awake, it will be the artists who give them their spirit back.” This quote is from the father of our nation, Métis leader and martyr Louis Riel. Years ago, I had setbacks including a divorce that resulted in me being left a half million dollars in debt and having to access a food bank. It was a long, tough road back, but the work I’ve done over the years supporting creatives has helped give me my spirit back. I am grateful.

To learn more about Therese “Tag” Goulet, please check out the links below":
Instagram: @taggoulet.filmproducer

The Gift TV

IndigeKin

Therese “Tag” Goulet's Sugar Mama Show Is A Gift