Larissa FastHorse

Larissa FastHorse (Lakota, Sicangu Nation) grew up in South Dakota. After a career as a ballet dancer, she settled in Los Angeles where she became a frequent speaker on proper representation of Native Americans in the entertainment industry. In 2000 Larissa was a delegate to the United Nations in Geneva, speaking on the power of film for Indigenous peoples.

Larissa chose to learn more about the industry by working in feature film and television development until she was ready to go out on her own and write.

Since then, Larissa has written projects for film, TV, radio and theatre. She wrote and co-created a drama series for The N Network with Debra Martin Chase, their first based on contemporary Native Americans. Larissa has several feature film and TV projects in development with Puravida Entertainment and an original drama pilot that was optioned by Fox.

A published and produced playwright, Larissa is currently working on new commissions for the Tony Award winning Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis and Native Voices at the Autry.

Larissa has received the Sundance/Ford, Fox Diversity Writer’s Initiative and Aurand Harris Fellowships as well as the National Geographic Seed Grant. She attended the ABC/IAIA Writer’s Program and the Native Voices at the Autry Playwright’s Retreat and is a member of the WGA American Indian Writer’s Committee. In 2008 Larissa attended the ASSITEJ World Congress as a featured playwright and panelist. In her spare time she choreographs and teaches playwriting to Native youth.