Sterlin Harjo (Seminole/Muscogee) is an award-winning filmmaker from Holdenville, Oklahoma.

Now based in Tulsa, Harjo is the co-creator and showrunner of the acclaimed series Reservation Dogs (FX Productions). The comedy follows four Indigenous teenage friends living on a reservation in Oklahoma. The show has won an impressive number of awards, including a Peabody for its debut season (2021), Gotham Award for Breakthrough Series (2021), Independent Spirit Awards for Best New Series and Best Ensemble Cast (2022), Television Academy Honors (2022), along with being an American Film Institute Awards Honoree and nominated for a Golden Globe, multiple WGA Awards, Critics Choice, and Television Critics Association Awards, among many others. Rez Dogs concluded its run in 2023 with Season 3.

Harjo’s newest series Poster Girls, which he co-wrote with bestselling novelist Jonathan Lee, is in development with FX Productions. Paramount+ recently acquired his series Yellowbird, which he is co-creating with Erica Tremblay and is based on the Sierra Crane Murdoch novel of the same name. Along with his numerous projects in development, LeBron James’s company SpringHill, is producing Harjo’s newest series, Rezball, for Netflix, which he co-wrote with
Sydney Freeland.

Over his career, Harjo has also created and directed five feature films: three narrative dramas and two documentaries. His most recent feature, Love and Fury, is a documentary chronicling the work and intersection of over a dozen contemporary Native American artists. The film was acquired by Ava DuVernay’s ARRAY and released on Netflix in December 2021. It received its premiere at the 2021 Hot Docs International Documentary Festival and was an official selection of the Seattle International Film Festival, Virginia Film Festival, and DeadCenter Film Festival.

Harjo’s first feature film, Four Sheets to theWind, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. His feature documentary, This May Be the Last Time, premiered at Sundance in 2014. His most recent narrative feature, Mekko, premiered at the 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival and had its international premiere at Toronto International Film Festival. Each of his films are set in Oklahoma and address contemporary Indigenous experiences.

In addition to his film and television work, Harjo is a founding member of the acclaimed Native sketch comedy troupe, the 1491s. He recently co-wrote the group’s first play, Between Two Knees, an intergenerational comedic love story/musical set against the backdrop of true events in Native American history. The play was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and New Native Theater in 2018/19 and just completed a run at Yale Repertory Theater in 2022.