The Writers Guild Foundation, in partnership with Storyline Partners, hosts a virtual panel delving into contemporary Native American storytelling and representations in film and television.
Panelists include:
Sierra Teller Ornelas - Rutherford Falls
Migizi Pensoneau - Reservation Dogs
Erica Tremblay - Fancy Dance
Moderated by Aiko Little (Co-Chair, WGA Native American and Indigenous Writers Committee).
Panel starts at 7 p.m. Pacific Time.
RSVP for free or with a suggested donation of $10. All proceeds benefit the Writers Guild Foundation’s future panels and events, community programs, and Library & Archive. After signing up, you’ll receive information on how to access the Zoom panel.
Questions? Feel free to reach out to us at events@wgfoundation.org.
IN PARTNERSHIP WITH
About the Panelists
Sierra Teller Ornelas has previously staffed on: St. Denis Medical, Loot, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Superstore, Happy Endings, Splitting Up Together, Surviving Jack and Selfie. She is the co-creator and show runner of the Peacock show Rutherford Falls, starring Ed Helms, Jana Schmieding and Michael Greyeyes. Sierra’s work has been featured on This American Life, the New York Times Opinion Section and the Hollywood Reporter’s Guest Column. A graduate of the University of Arizona, she previously worked as a film programmer for the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, helping to create ridiculously entertaining programs about Native film and media. Raised in Tucson, AZ, she is also an award winning sixth generation Navajo tapestry weaver, a fairly good mom, and currently resides in Los Angeles, CA.
Migizi Pensoneau is a writer, producer, actor and founding member of the sketch comedy troupe, The 1491s. Pensoneau is most well-known for his work on FX’s award-winning “Reservation Dogs,” for which he served as a co-Executive Producer and writer. Most recently, Pensoneau has served as a writer and producer on Apple's "Government Cheese," and FX’s “Alien: Earth,” due to air in 2025.
Erica Tremblay is a Native American filmmaker from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. Her first feature film, FANCY DANCE, starring Academy Award Nominee Lily Gladstone, premiered in competition at Sundance in 2023 and was acquired by Apple Original Films where it was released in 2024. The film won prizes at SXSW, Mill Valley Film Festival, Hamptons International Film Festival, Newfest, and others.
Most recently, Erica wrote on Season 3 of AMC's DARK WINDS as a Co-Executive Producer where she also directed an episode. Previously, Erica was a Co-Producer on RESERVATION DOGS at FX, where she directed her first and second episodes of television for Seasons 2 and 3. Together with Sterlin Harjo, she developed a series adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize finalist, YELLOWBIRD for Paramount+.
In 2024, Erica was named a Screenwriter to Watch by Variety as well as a BAFTA Breakthrough Artist. In 2023 Erica was named a Sundance Momentum Fellow, and in 2021 she was accepted into the Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Lab. The same year, she was awarded the Walter Bernstein Screenwriting Fellowship, the Maja Kristin Directing Fellowship, the SFFILM Rainin Grant, and the Lynn Shelton Of a Certain Age Grant. In 2020, FANCY DANCE was included on The Black List's Indigenous List and her short film, LITTLE CHIEF, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it was included on IndieWire's top-ten list of must-see short films at the fest. In 2017, she earned recognition as a 40 under 40 Native American.
Prior to transitioning into her film and television career, Erica held high-level producorial and creative roles at companies like Hearst, Bustle, and Digitas where she led teams across a variety of editorial and branded content for brands including Elle Magazine, Harper's BAZAAR, Kia Motors and Bank of America.
About the Moderator
Aiko Little (Oglala Lakota, Filipina) is a writer, actor and Chair of the Writers Guild of America’s Native American Indigenous Writer’s Committee. Born and raised in San Francisco, Little spent over a decade at the American Conservatory Theatre and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles. Little was the writer's assistant for Amazon’s OUTER RANGE. Little recently wrote and developed Amazon's GET IT- a Native American series led by Kate Purdy. Little utilizes their urban Indigequeer experience to continue paving a way for the next seven generations.