'I want more of this': Gallup native Sydney Freeland one of the creative forces behind Marvel's 'Echo'

Jan. 7—Growing up in Gallup, Sydney Freeland would often go to the theater to see movies.

She saw the numerous names scroll on the screen after the movie.

But those names meant nothing to her.

"It was like, 'Oh, that's something that somebody somewhere far from here does,' " Freeland says of growing up on the reservation. "That's not something that I do."

Freeland left Gallup to study at Academy of Art University, San Francisco.

While getting an undergraduate degree, Freeland took many classes — drawing, photography, creative writing, computer art and animation.

Ultimately, she took a class called film.

"I thought to myself, 'I don't know what this is, but I want more of this,' " she says with a smile. "So I sort of threw myself into film school to soak in as much as I could. This is where I learned that people actually get paid to do this for a living."

Moving from San Francisco to Los Angeles, Freeland worked her way up from a production assistant and intern.

Eventually, she made the jump to directing — at first feature films, then TV episodes.

The Navajo filmmaker is having another breakthrough moment as she is one of the creatives at the helm of the Marvel Studios series, "Echo."

The series is set to premiere on Disney+ and Hulu on Tuesday, Jan. 9.

"Echo" spotlights Maya Lopez as she is pursued by Wilson Fisk's criminal empire. Lopez is one of the first Native American characters to come to the Marvel screen.

When the journey brings her home, she must confront her own family and legacy.

"Echo" stars Alaqua Cox as Maya Lopez, as well as Chaske Spencer, Tantoo Cardinal, Devery Jacobs, Zahn McClarnon and Cody Lightning with Graham Greene and Vincent D'Onofrio, who returns to the villainous role of Wilson Fisk aka Kingpin.

Freeland's breakthrough in the film industry was the New Mexico filmed and Sundance darling, "Drunktown's Finest" in 2014.

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 also a 2007 Disney Scholarship recipient and a 2008 Disney Fellowship semifinalist, as well as a 2009 Sundance Institute Native Lab fellow.

Working with Marvel Studios, Freeland, 43, didn't have to think twice.

She knew the project would be breaking new ground when it comes to representation, and the project got the blessing from the Choctaw Nation in Oklahoma.

As the director of the pilot episode for the series, Freeland was able to set the tone for the entire series.

During the process, there were plenty of changes and her initial vision for the series grew over the course of the process.

"There's an expression that there are three rewrites that take place over the course of a film production, right," Freeland says. "There's the script, which we write. Then there's the shooting of it and you rewrite what you have scripted during that because of the limitations in place. We spend an extended amount of time really trying to finesse and hone in on the editing of this to tell a story. The final product is so different from what I had initially pictured, but it's also the same, if that makes sense. We've sort of gone full circle with it in a really great way."

While working on the project, Marvel wanted the project to be inclusive.

Maya Lopez's character is deaf in the series and Freeland wanted to come from a place of authenticity and representation.

Freeland admits there were challenges, but that's what drives her as an artist.

She recalls in January 2020, getting an email from directing duo Bert and Bertie (Amber Templemore-Finlayson and Katie Ellwood), who were working on the TV series, "Hawkeye" at the time.

They were trying to cast the character of Maya Lopez, who first appeared in the "Hawkeye" series.

"(In 2020) they asked me if I knew of any deaf Native American actors," Freeland recalls. "I was like, 'Nope, good luck with that.' "

Cox, who is deaf, was cast as Lopez in "Hawkeye," and since "Echo" is a spinoff of that series, she carries on the role.

Freeland then brought in deaf writers and deaf consultants.

"We needed to have authenticity in front, behind and penning the scripts," Freeland says. "We were very fortunate to find that."

It was in the writer's room where Freeland learned from the writers that deafness is hereditary.

"So if you're going to have the mother and father of Maya Lopez in the series, chances are high that one of the parents is deaf," she says. "We actually changed the entire script so that the mother was deaf. We did another casting call and found Katarina Ziervogel to play Maya's mother, Taloa. Because we had that extra voice in the room, we were able to adjust and make that extra effort to make things that much more real and authentic."

Freeland is comfortable in the director's chair.

As she gets opportunities to be at the helm of a project, she gets to be a cheerleader.

"I feel like if I do my job half as good as what these actors are capable of when they get in front of the camera and if I can set the stage for them in a way that can allow them to lock in and emotionally engage in a scene or character situation," she continues, "There's no better feeling than watching an actor just give a performance there in real time."

Freeland is also in post-production for the feature film, "Rez Ball," which filmed in New Mexico.

It is expected to be released later this year.

"This is a story that is so deep and close to me, and to be able to showcase our part of America with the world authentically is deeply gratifying," Freeland says. "We set out to make a film from an authentic point of view, and our incredible cast has brought Sterlin's (Harjo) and my words to life in that way. Our actors, culled from over 5,000 submissions, embody the spirit and energy of what 'Rez Ball' is, and I can't wait to share it with the world."

Freeland and Harjo also wrote the script for the story.

As "Echo" is released to the masses, Freeland still gets butterflies in anticipation.

She's hoping that viewers will be inspired by the story.

"If somebody can watch this and it inspires them to go off and do their own deaf Native American story, nothing would make me happier to see that happen," she says. "I think one of the things is I'm feeling really honored and blessed to have the opportunity to put my fingerprints on this film."

Freeland also wants Native Americans to feel inspired to tell their own stories.

"I feel like I've come to learn that all those experiences that you have growing up coming from a marginalized community, coming from a place like, even like Gallup, you don't think that those are experiences that would necessarily help you," she says. "But those are actually things that Hollywood is craving because they're looking for different. They're looking for new. They're looking for exciting. I would say the more different your background, the more different your experience, the more excited I am to see what you can create."