NDN Time

An hour-long fantasy drama where a Tewa college student develops a dimension bending connection to the universe.

  • Charine Pilar Gonzales
    Writer
  • Project Type:
    Television Script
  • Genres:
    Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Dramedy
  • Number of Pages:
    59
  • Language:
    English
  • First-time Screenwriter:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Writer Biography - Charine Pilar Gonzales

Charine Pilar Gonzales (San Ildefonso Pueblo + Santa Fe) is a Tewa writer/director. She comes from six generations of Pueblo potters. She loves theaters, comic books and New Mexico sunsets. Charine produces live-action narrative fiction, documentary, and stop-motion projects. She recently completed the festival circuit for her short doc, Our Quiyo: Maria Martinez, and recently picture-locked her short narrative fiction film, River Bank (Pō-Kehgeh).
Charine is Lead Editor for Native Lens, a crowdsourced collaboration by Rocky Mountain PBS and KSUT Tribal Radio. Charine earned a BFA in Cinematic Arts and Technology from the Institute of American Indian Arts (IAIA) and a BA in English - Communication from Fort Lewis College (FLC).
In 2021, Charine was a Sundance Institute Indigenous Program Native Lab Artist in Residence, Artist in Business Leadership Fellow through First Peoples Fund, and a Jackson Wild Media Lab Fellow. She also started a Native multimedia production company, Povi Studios. In 2022, she was selected for the Jackson Wild Summit MCA Fellowship and the LA Skins Fest TV Writers Lab Fellowship. She was recently accepted to the IAIA MFA Creative Writing program with a focus in Screenwriting. Her favorite foods are Pueblo oven bread, red chile stew, and chicos. She resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico, with her family and chunky orange tabby cat, Cheddar.

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Writer Statement

I grew up helping my dad sell pottery at Indian Art Markets, playing Nintendo 64 with my brother, and watching films with my mom. I come from six generations of Pueblo pottery artists. When we work with clay, we think good thoughts so that our pottery reflects goodness, too. I often think about this intention from a storytelling perspective.

I'm from the Tewa village of San Ildefonso Pueblo in northern New Mexico. I was born into a long line of Pueblo people who practice Tewa traditions and spirituality. We take pride in our storytelling.

I was raised by divorced parents: a hippy glassblower and a Pueblo pottery artist. I recognize my resilience, strength, and heart as a Native woman. NDN Time is a personal reflection of my life experiences.

I lost my younger brother in 2017. The weight of losing such an important person in my life was devastating. I navigated the cultural differences between life, death, and ceremony. Yet somehow, I found ways to glue the pieces back together. A quote by my pottery family, "We come from the clay and the earth, and we will return to the clay and earth," grounds me when I write themes of grief and everything in between. Thought it was a very hard thing to accept, Tyler's death became my greatest teacher.

NDN Time is a timely story. Indigenous stories by Indigenous people are powerful, and our voices deserve a space in film and television. I want the characters in my stories to grow, heal and laugh, similar to my life experiences.