Ep. 63 - DARK WINDS: Inside the Writers Room with Billy Luther
Jessica Matten, Zahn MacClarnon, and Kiowa Gordan in DARK WINDS. Photo source: AMC
…we’re (Navajos) in the room, and people are always asking us “hey….” But we don’t have all the answers….So we go to our family, our elders…we have different consultants that we go to and put things in that…help bring some, I think, much stronger characters into the show.
Billy Luther
In episode 63, The Boston Sisters continue their conversation with filmmaker Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi, Laguna Pueblo) who takes us inside the writers room for the AMC series DARK WINDS. Set in Navajo country in the 1970s, DARK WINDS is based on the Leaphorn and Chee detective novels by Tony Hillerman (1925 - 2008).
Billy Luther is story editor, writer, and director for DARK WINDS, which will have a 3rd season in 2025. The conversation covers:
Billy Luther's journey to write for DARK WINDS
Adapting Tony Hillerman's detective novels
Native American writers, cultural sensitivity, and storytelling
Navajo culture and historical context in DARK WINDS
Character Bernadette Manuelito’s story and future in season 3 (2025)
GUEST
Billy Luther
Billy Luther (Navajo, Hopi and Laguna Pueblo) is story editor, writer and director for the AMC Plus series DARK WINDS based on the detective novels by Tony Hillerman.
Billy launched his filmmaking career in documentary films beginning with the award-winning MISS NAVAJO, which aired nationally on PBS’ Independent Lens in 2007.
Billy’s second documentary feature, GRAB, premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and aired nationally on PBS. Billy’s short documentary film, RED LAKE, had its world premiere at the 2016 LA Film Festival and was nominated for Best Documentary Short at the 2016 International Documentary Association Awards. In 2018, he launched his web series “alter-NATIVE” featuring Indigenous fashion designer Bethany Yellowtail for PBS’ IndieLens StoryCast.
Billy Luther’s first feature film, FRYBREAD FACE AND ME, a coming-of-age story that follows two adolescent Navajo cousins from different worlds as they bond during a summer on their grandmother’s Arizona ranch, learning more about their family’s past and about themselves. Listen to podcast Episode 61 where we talk about FRYBREAD FACE AND ME with Billy Luther.
Follow Billy Luther on Instagram | Download a transcript of this podcast conversation
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Purchase the Tony Hillerman books that were adapted for seasons 1 and 2 of DARK WINDS:
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DARK WINDS
Season 2 Trailer DARK WINDS (2023)
DARK WINDS is set in Navajo country in the 1970s and features tribal police officers Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon), Bernadette Manuelito (Jessica Matten), and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon). The cast also includes Deanna Allison who portrays healthcare worker Emma Leaphorn, Joe Leaphorn’s wife.
Described by AMC as a “Southwestern Noir,” DARK WINDS is based on the Leaphorn and Chee detective novels by Tony Hillerman (who is not Native American). According to his biography, as a youth, Hillerman attended a boarding school for Native American Girls in his hometown, Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, for 8 years. As a journalist Hillerman covered crime and politics for newspapers in Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico where he made his home, raised his family, and began his fiction writing career.
DARK WINDS is created by Graham Roland. John Wirth is the series showrunner. Along with Roland, Wirth, and Zahn McClarnon, executive producers include Robert Redford, George R.R. Martin, Chris Eyre, Tina Elmo, Jim Chory, Vince Gerardis and Anne Hillerman, Tony Hillerman’s daughter who’s writing and publishing new books based on the characters from her father’s Leaphorn and Chee novels.
AMC DARK WINDS Official webpage
Season 3 of DARK WINDS premieres March 9, 2025 on AMC and AMC Plus. You can stream the 1st and 2nd seasons on AMC + and Netflix with a subscription. Do a search to find other streaming sources.