New Screenwriters on Breaking In

Erica Tremblay on getting into Sundance and writing Native women

April 05, 2022 Priscilla Nguyen Season 1 Episode 4
New Screenwriters on Breaking In
Erica Tremblay on getting into Sundance and writing Native women
Show Notes

Erica Tremblay met her showrunner and collaborator, Sterlin Harjo, through the Native Filmmakers Lab at Sundance. But that was a decade in the making. Before that, she made a short film, two documentaries, and hundreds of videos for major publishers. We'll talk about how she got into advertising, switched to publishing, and staffed off a feature sample. I'm your host, Priscilla Nguyen, and you're listening to NEW SCREENWRITERS ON BREAKING IN.

Erica Tremblay is a Native-American writer and director from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. She grew up in Missouri and lives on Cayuga Lake in upstate New York, where she is currently studying her Indigenous language. In 2007, she wrote, produced, and starred in a short film called TINY RED UNIVERSE. In 2012, she released a documentary called HEARTLAND: A PORTRAIT OF SURVIVAL, about a devastating tornado that had struck her hometown. In 2014, she released another documentary called IN THE TURN, about a ten-year-old girl who is unable to participate in sports because she's trans. Several years later, she wrote and directed a short film called LITTLE CHIEF, which premiered at Sundance in 2020. In 2021, she became an Executive Story Editor on DARK WINDS, an upcoming series for AMC, and subsequently staffed on RESERVATION DOGS at FX.