Sierra Teller Ornelas

Sierra Nizhoni Teller Ornelas (born 1981)[1] is a Navajo and American showrunner, screenwriter, filmmaker and weaver from Tucson, Arizona. She is the co-creator of the scripted comedy series Rutherford Falls, alongside Ed Helms and Mike Schur.[2][3]

Sierra Teller Ornelas
Born1981 (age 40–41)
Tucson, Arizona
EducationUniversity of Arizona
Television
  • Brooklyn Nine-Nine
  • Happy Endings
  • Rutherford Falls
  • Superstore

Known for writing and production work on shows such as Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Happy Endings, Splitting Up Together and Superstore, she has written and contributed to This American Life and the New York Times.[4] In 2019 Ornelas signed a multiyear development deal with Universal Television beginning with the Peacock sitcom Rutherford Falls.[4][2]

Early life and education

Ornelas is from Tucson, Arizona.[4][5] Born to the Edge Water clan, her maternal grandfather is Water Flowing Together clan and her paternal grandfather is Mexican clan.[6] Ornelas knew as early as second grade that she wanted to write for television.[7] She attended the University of Arizona, where she studied media arts.[8]

Career

Following college graduation, Teller Ornelas worked for five years as a film programmer at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C.[4][9] She was inspired to leave that job and pursue her dreams of becoming a television writer by a "big swing" her mom and aunt had made in the 1980s when they spent four years weaving an enormous rug, which sold for $60,000 and changed their family's lives.[7] She applied and was selected in 2010 for the Disney/ABC Television Group's diversity writing program,[10] which led to a position as a staff writer on Happy Endings.[11][12] The position allowed her to contribute to a sub-plot in which Dave, played by Zachary Knighton, discovers he is one-sixteenth Navajo and begins playing into stereotypes about Native Americans.[11][12] Ornelas explained in a 2011 interview with the Navajo Times that if done right, comedy can be a way to "get conversation going about very dense, complicated issues."[11]

Diversity in writers' rooms and ensuring that racialized people aren't the only one working on a production is an area Ornelas is committed to addressing in media.[12] As the showrunner of Rutherford Falls she oversees a writers room that includes herself, Helms, Schur, and four other Indigenous writers – Tazbah Chavez, Tai Leclaire, Jana Schmieding, and Bobby Wilson – the number of which is believed to be a first for a major television production.[3]

In addition to writing and producing, Ornelas is a sixth-generation Navajo weaver.[4][8] Her film A Loom with a View: Modern Navajo Weavers, made for the Arizona State Museum, chronicles the weaving of her mother, Barbara Teller Ornelas; aunt, Margaret Yazzie; and brother, Micheal Teller Ornelas.[8][1] Her overall deal with Universal Television was recently renewed.[13]

References
  1. Schmitt, Rory O'Neill (2016). Navajo and Hopi Art in Arizona: Continuing Traditions. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 978-1-62585-560-2. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  2. Montpelier, Rachel (20 November 2019). "Sierra Teller Ornelas Signs Multi-Year Overall Deal with Universal Television". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  3. Tennant, Zoe (7 February 2020). "Rutherford Falls brings Indigenous writers together for new NBC sitcom". CBC. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  4. Petski, Denise; Andreeva, Nellie (20 November 2019). "'Rutherford Falls' Co-Creator Sierra Teller Ornelas Inks Overall Deal With Universal TV". Deadline. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  5. Harjo, Noetta (17 September 2018). "GGA Indigenerd Wire: Sierra Teller Ornelas Talks Authenticity and Humor in Native Storytelling". Geek Girl Authority. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  6. Ornelas, Sierra Teller (30 January 2019). "Indigenous People's Long Road to Visibility in Hollywood (Guest Column)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  7. Miller, Stuart (April 21, 2021). "Sierra Teller Ornelas on the Roots of 'Rutherford Falls'". The New York Times. Retrieved April 21, 2021.
  8. "Weaving is part of woman's soul". Arizona Daily Star. 13 December 2006. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  9. Sussman, Mark (10 May 2018). "Sierra Teller Ornelas on giving yourself permission to suck". thecreativeindependent.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  10. "Eight Chosen for Disney/ABC TV Diversity Writing Program". TheWrap. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  11. Yurth, Cindy (24 October 2011). "For Diné scriptwriter, Hollywood is one big dinner table". navajotimes.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  12. Montpelier, Rachel (14 September 2018). "Writer to Watch: Sierra Teller Ornelas of "Superstore"". womenandhollywood.com. Retrieved 9 April 2020.
  13. Petski, Denise (2021-08-04). "'Rutherford Falls' Co-Creator Sierra Teller Ornelas Extends Overall Deal With Universal TV". Deadline. Retrieved 2021-08-06.
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