Sydney Freeland

Last updated
Sydney Freeland
Born (1980-10-10) October 10, 1980 (age 44)
Gallup, New Mexico, U.S.
Education Academy of Art University, San Francisco
Occupation(s)Director
Screenwriter
Known for Drunktown's Finest

Sydney Freeland (born October 10, 1980) is a Native American (Navajo) filmmaker. She wrote and directed the short film Hoverboard (2012) and the film Drunktown's Finest (2014), which garnered numerous acclaims after premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. [1] Her second film, Deidra and Laney Rob a Train , debuted at Sundance and was released on Netflix in 2017; [2] her third, Rez Ball, appeared in 2024.

Contents

Early life

Freeland was born in Gallup, New Mexico, United States in 1980 to a Navajo father and a Scottish mother, and she was raised on a Navajo reservation. Freeland attended Academy of Art University in San Francisco. [3] She is a 2004 Fulbright scholar, focusing her scholarship on a field study of indigenous peoples in Ecuador. She has a Master of Fine Arts in film, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in computer animation. Freeland is a 2007 Disney Scholarship recipient and a 2008 Disney Fellowship semifinalist. Freeland is also a 2009 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow. [3] [4]

Career

Prior to making her first feature-length film, Drunktown's Finest, Freeland previously worked as a production assistant, as a writer and as a camera intern. [5] Freeland worked for a number of different media companies, including The Food Network, Walt Disney, Comedy Central, and National Geographic. [6] Freeland directed a six-minute short, Hoverboard, utilizing Kickstarter to help fund the short. [7] The film was inspired by Back to the Future Part II . Drunktown's Finest is her second venture into filmmaking. The 95-minute-long film [8] is a coming-of-age story about the complex issues surrounding identity and the struggles faced by Native American people. [8] [9] The film's name is inspired by a controversial 20/20 segment on ABC News, which branded the town of Gallup, New Mexico as "Drunk Town, USA", after the increase of instances of alcoholism on the border of the Navajo Nation. [10] Freeland wrote and directed Drunktown's Finest as a way to combat negative stereotypes of her home community. [8] Freeland, who is herself a transgender woman, also directed a digital series about queer and trans women called Her Story . [11] The series was nominated for the newly created Emmy Award category of Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama. [12]

In 2014 Freeland was named a United States Artists (USA) Fellow. [13]

On March 19, 2022, Freeland joined as a director for the upcoming superhero streaming series Echo for Disney+. [14] In 2022, she was included in the Fast Company Queer 50 list. [15]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

AwardYearProjectCategoryResult
Ashland Independent Film Festivals 2014 Drunktown's Finest Narrative Feature - Honorable Mention [19] Won
Heartland Film Festivals 2014 Drunktown's Finest Narrative Feature [20] Won
L.A. Outfest 2014 Drunktown's Finest Outstanding American Narrative Feature [21] Won
HBO Outstanding First Narrative Feature [21] Won
Albuquerque Film & Media Experience 2014 Drunktown's Finest Best of New Mexico [22] Won
American Indian Film Festival 2014 Drunktown's Finest Best Film [23] Won
Best Supporting Actress [23] Won
Best Actor [24] Nominated
Best Director [24] Nominated
Best Actress [24] Nominated
Best Actor [24] Nominated
Primetime Emmy Awards 2016 Her Story Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series [25] Nominated

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>TransGeneration</i> American documentary-style reality television series

TransGeneration is an American documentary-style reality television series that affords a view into the lives of four transgender college students during the 2004–2005 academic year. Two of the students are trans women, and two are trans men. Each of them attends a different school in the United States, and they are each at a different stage of their degree programs. The filmmakers document events in the students' academic careers, their social and family lives, and their transitions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marianna Palka</span> Scottish actress, producer, director, and writer

Marianna Bronislawa Barbara Palka is a Scottish actress, producer, director, and writer. She is the writer, director and star of the film Good Dick, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirrah Foulkes</span> Australian actress (born 1981/1982)

Mirrah Foulkes is an Australian director, screenwriter, and film and television actress. She was raised on the Sunshine Coast, in South East Queensland, Australia. She has appeared in films such as Animal Kingdom (2010), Sleeping Beauty (2011), and in the Australian anthology film The Turning (2013).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Ross Williams</span> American film director

Roger Ross Williams is an American director, producer and writer and the first African American director to win an Academy Award (Oscar), with his short film Music by Prudence; this film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rachel Crow</span> American singer and actress (born 1998)

Rachel Kelly Crow is an American singer and actress. Born in Mead, Colorado, she participated in the first season of the American version of The X Factor in 2011, where she was the ninth contestant eliminated. Following her elimination, she contacted Walt Disney for possible roles in future Disney productions. This resulted in her appearing in multiple television shows and films, including BrainSurge, Inside Edition, Big Time Rush, Figure It Out, The Wendy Williams Show and Fred: The Show. Crow released her first and eponymous extended play (EP) in June 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Carmichael (filmmaker)</span> American film director, writer, and animator

Emily Carmichael is an American film director, screenwriter, and animator. Her short films have screened in competition at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, Slamdance, and other US and International film festivals. Carmichael co-wrote the screenplay for the 2018 science fiction sequel Pacific Rim: Uprising and the 2022 film Jurassic World: Dominion.

Mateo Frazier is an American writer, director, producer. He is best known for co-writing and directing the 2013 Lionsgate film Blaze You Out and producing the 2014 Sundance film Drunktown's Finest.

<i>Drunktowns Finest</i> 2014 American film

Drunktown's Finest is a 2014 American drama film directed by Sydney Freeland. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 18, 2014. The film later screened at the Sundance London Film Festival on April 25, 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sterlin Harjo</span> Native American filmmaker (born 1979)

Sterlin Harjo is an American Seminole filmmaker. He has directed three feature films, a documentary, and the FX comedy drama series Reservation Dogs, all of them set in his home state of Oklahoma and concerned primarily with Native American people and content.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Dunn (director)</span> Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer

Stephen Dunn is a Canadian director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film directorial debut in 2015 with Closet Monster, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Billy Luther is a Native American independent film writer, producer and director. He has made several documentaries and short films. He belongs to the Navajo, Hopi, and Laguna Pueblo tribes. He is known for his movies Frybread Face and Me (2023) and Miss Navajo (2007), and the 2022 television series Dark Winds. Luther identifies as gay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silas Howard</span> American director, writer, and actor

Silas Howard is an American film and television director, writer, and actor. His first feature film By Hook or by Crook (2001) co-directed with Harry Dodge is a seminal trans masc feature. Howard earned an MFA in directing at UCLA and is a 2015 Guggenheim Fellow. He began directing episodes during the second season of Transparent, making him the show's first trans director.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amber Midthunder</span> American actress (born 1997)

Amber Midthunder is an American actress. She had regular roles in the FX series Legion and The CW series Roswell, New Mexico, and also appeared on Longmire, Banshee, and Reservation Dogs. In 2022, she starred as Naru in Prey, the fifth installment and first prequel of the Predator franchise.

Janicza Bravo is an American film director, film producer, and screenwriter. Her films include Gregory Go Boom, a winner of the short-film jury award at the Sundance Film Festival; Lemon, co-written with Brett Gelman; and Zola, co-written with playwright Jeremy O. Harris.

<i>Deidra & Laney Rob a Train</i> 2017 American film

Deidra & Laney Rob a Train is an American comedy drama crime film directed by Sydney Freeland, from a screenplay by Shelby Farrell. It stars Ashleigh Murray, Rachel Crow, Tim Blake Nelson, David Sullivan, Danielle Nicolet and Sasheer Zamata.

Quyen Tran is a Vietnamese-American cinematographer based in Los Angeles. She has worked on multiple Sundance films such as The Little Hours and Deidra & Laney Rob a Train.

<i>Echo</i> (miniseries) 2024 Marvel Studios television miniseries

Echo is an American television miniseries created for the streaming service Disney+, based on Marvel Comics featuring the character of the same name. A spin-off from the series Hawkeye (2021), it is the 10th television series in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) produced by Marvel Studios, sharing continuity with the films of the franchise. It sees Maya Lopez return to her hometown where she must come to terms with her past, reconnect with her Native American roots, and embrace her family and community. Marion Dayre and Amy Rardin serve as head writers and Sydney Freeland leads the directing team.

This article features the history of the representation of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) characters in animated productions under The Walt Disney Company, including films from the studios Walt Disney Animation Studios and Pixar, and programming from the Disney Branded Television channels as well as the streaming service Disney+. From 1983 onward, Disney struggled with LGBTQ representation in their animated series, and their content often included LGBTQ stereotypes or the content was censored in series such as Blazing Dragons. Some creators have also criticized Disney studio executives of cutting LGBTQ scenes from their shows in the past, or criticized that their shows were not seen as part of the "Disney brand", like The Owl House.

References

  1. ↑ Sciortino, Karley (19 February 2015). "Why You Should See Drunktown's Finest This Weekend". Vogue. Retrieved 8 April 2015.
  2. ↑ Linden, Sheri (1 February 2017). "'Deidra & Laney Rob a Train': Film Review, Sundance 2017". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 17 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Academy of Art University Alumni". Academy of Art University . Retrieved 2 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Silverstein, Melissa. "Sundance Women Directors: Meet Sydney Freeland". Women and Hollywood. Indiewire. Archived from the original on 10 September 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  5. ↑ Gatewood, Tara. "Shifting Views with Drunktown's Finest". Native Peoples. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  6. ↑ "Hoverboard". PBS Online Film Festival . PBS. Archived from the original on 15 January 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  7. ↑ Freeland, Sydney. "Hoverboard". Kickstarter. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 "Shifting Views with Drunktown's Finest". nativepeoples.com.
  9. ↑ "Director Sydney Freeland Discusses Drunktown's Finest - Filmmaker Magazine". Filmmaker Magazine. 23 January 2014.
  10. ↑ Brodeur, Paul. "Combating Alcohol Abuse in Northwestern New Mexico: Gallup's Fighting Back and Healthy Nations Programs". Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
  11. ↑ Jusino, Teresa (9 September 2015). "Interview: Her Story Director Sydney Freeland on Trans People Telling Trans Stories". The Mary Sue. Retrieved 6 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Brighe, Mari (31 July 2016). "The Emmy-Nominated Trans Web Series Her Story Could Change Everything". The Advocate. Retrieved 8 March 2017.
  13. ↑ "United States Artists » Sydney Freeland" . Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  14. ↑ Barnhardt, Adam (March 19, 2022). "Marvel's Echo Adds Reservation Dogs Director". ComicBook.com . Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  15. ↑ "Sydney Freeland is No. 41 on the 2022 Fast Company Queer 50 list". Fast Company. Retrieved 2022-06-19.
  16. ↑ "Sydney Freeland". IMDb.
  17. ↑ "Sydney Freeland". IMDb.
  18. ↑ From the Heathers series page on HBO Nordic streaming service.
  19. ↑ "Winners announced at AIFF awards celebration". mailtribune.com.
  20. ↑ heartlandfilm. "2014 Heartland Film Festival Announces Grand Prize Winners, Awards Over $115,000 to Independent Filmmakers". Heartland Film.
  21. 1 2 "2014 OUTFEST LOS ANGELES AWARDS". Outfest. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  22. ↑ "AFME 2014 Award Winners". abqfilmx.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-28. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  23. 1 2 "'Drunktown' and 'Rhymes' Rule American Indian Film Festival Awards". Indian Country Today Media Network.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-25. Retrieved 2015-04-08.
  24. 1 2 3 4 "American Indian Motion Picture Awards Show". aifisf.com. Archived from the original on 2014-11-03.
  25. ↑ "Nominees/Winners | Television Academy". Academy of Television Arts & Sciences . Retrieved March 8, 2017.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.