Heather Rae
American actress and film producer
title: "Heather Rae" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1966-births", "21st-century-american-actresses", "living-people", "film-producers-from-idaho", "film-directors-from-california", "american-television-actresses", "american-film-actresses", "american-women-film-directors", "american-women-film-producers", "american-people-who-self-identify-as-being-of-cherokee-descent"] description: "American actress and film producer" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Rae" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary American actress and film producer ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Heather Rae |
| birth_date | |
| nationality | American |
| occupation | {{flatlist |
| years_active | 1990–present |
| known_for | Frozen River |
| Trudell | |
| Tallulah | |
| spouse | Russell Friedenberg (m. 1999) |
| children | 3 including Johnny Sequoyah |
| :: |
| name = Heather Rae | birth_date = | birth_place = | nationality = American | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = {{flatlist|
- film producer
- Director
- actress | years_active = 1990–present | known_for = Frozen River Trudell Tallulah | spouse = Russell Friedenberg (m. 1999) | children = 3 including Johnny Sequoyah Heather Rae (born Heather Rae Bybee in California, October 1966) is an American film and television producer and director. She has worked on documentary and narrative film projects, specializing in those with Native American themes, and is best known for Frozen River, Trudell, and Tallulah.
Personal life
Rae was raised in Idaho.
In 1999, Rae married Russell Friedenberg, the American director and screenwriter. They have three children; her daughter is actress Johnny Sequoyah.
Career
From 1996 to 2001, Rae directed the Native program at the Sundance Institute.
In 2000, she co-produced Backroads directed by Shirley Cheechoo, which premiered at Sundance Film Festival that year.
Rae was recognized as one of Varietys Ten Producers to Watch in 2008, and received the Piaget Producers Award and the Cinereach Producers Award.
Rae directed the 2005 film Trudell, which has been shown at over 100 film festivals worldwide. It received the Best Documentary Feature at the 30th Annual American Indian Film Festival and a Special Jury Prize for Best Documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival. In 2006, Trudell was nationally broadcast on PBS in the documentary series Independent Lens.
Circa 2006, Rae was an adjunct film studies professor at Boise State University, Idaho. Around this time, Rae co-founded True West and the True West Cinema Film Festival.
In 2008, she was recognized as one of Varietys Ten Producers to Watch. Frozen River (2008) received seven nominations and won two Independent Spirit Awards, including Rae winning the Piaget Producers Award. It won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, and received two Academy Award nominations for the Best Actress (Melissa Leo) and the Best Original Screenplay (Courtney Hunt). It was nominated for five Gotham Awards and won the Best Feature and the Breakthrough Actor awards in The 18th Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards.
In 2009, the Independent Spirit Awards gave Rae the Piaget Producers Award for Frozen River and Ibid.
In 2010, The Dry Land (2010) directed by Ryan Piers Williams and starring America Ferrera, Melissa Leo, Jason Ritter and Wilmer Valderrama, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.
She established a production center in Boise where independent filmmakers such as Gregory Bayne, Randy Redroad and Blackhorse Lowe worked. It produced four feature films before being shuttered. Rae is a current and founding board member of the Sun Valley Film Festival.
After leaving Sundance, Rae worked for one year as senior vice president of production for Winter Films. From 2012 to 2015, Rae served as an artist trustee for the Sundance Institute's Board of Trustees.
I Believe in Unicorns (2014) directed by Film Fatales founder, Leah Meyerhoff and starring Natalia Dyer, Peter Vack and Julia Garner premiered at South by Southwest.
In 2016, Tallulah, starring Elliot Page and Allison Janney, written and directed by Sian Heder, premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and is a Netflix Original Film.
In 2019, Bull, written by Annie Silverstein and Johnny McAllister and directed by Annie Silverstein, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival.
From 2020 to 2021, Rae executively produced Amazon series Outer Range alongside Plan B Entertainment. Outer Range was created by Brian Watkins and starring Josh Brolin.
Rae has worked with filmmakers in several countries, including the Sami and British Film Institutes in Europe, New Zealand's Script to Screen and Power of Inclusion Summit, and in Egypt with Film Independent's Global Media Makers partnership with the Cairo International Film Festival.
Personal heritage
Rae self-identifies as Native American, and has said that her mother is Cherokee; however neither she nor her mother is an enrolled member of any federally or state-recognized Native American tribe or community. In March 2023 her status was questioned by the Tribal Alliance Against Frauds. According to the group, Rae's family records do not show any Native American heritage, and her family on both sides has identified as white across multiple public records, going back at least six generations.
Filmography
Feature films
Producer
- Sawtooth (2004)
- Trudell (2005) (director)
- Out of the Blue: A Film About Life and Football (2007)
- Water Flowing Together (2007)
- Frozen River (2008)
- Ibid (2008)
- The Dry Land (2010)
- First Circle (2010) (director)
- Magic Valley (2010)
- Ass Backwards (2013)
- I Believe in Unicorns (2014)
- Among Ravens (2014)
- Black Eyed Dog (2014)
- Wind Walkers (2015)
- Tallulah (2016)
- Dude (2018)
- Bull (2019)
- Fancy Dance (2023) Executive producer
- Apache 8 (2011)
- Mosquita y Mari (2012)
- Young Lakota (2012)
- Winter in the Blood (2013)
- Five Thirteen (2013)
- 1982 (2013)
- Dawnland (2018)
- Once Upon a River (2019)
- For the Love of Rutland (2020)
- I'll Meet You There (2020) Associate producer
- Silent Tears (1997) (actress) Co-Producer
- Backroads (2000)
- Asylum Seekers (2009)
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year(s) | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Native Americans | Field producer | |
| 2009 | 500 Nations | 3 episodes | |
| 1996 | Storytellers of the Pacific | ||
| 2008 | 30 Days | Consulting producer | 1 episode |
| 2006-2013 | Independent Lens | Executive producer (2013) – Producer (2006, 2008) | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | Rise | Executive producer | 1 episode |
| 2022 | Outer Range | Executive producer | |
| :: |
Short films
::data[format=table]
| Year(s) | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Birth Our Own | Producer / Director |
| 1997 | Silent Tears | Associate producer |
| 2004 | The Wicked Men | Consulting producer |
| 2009 | Shimásáni | Producer |
| 2019 | Sweetheart Dancers | Consulting producer |
| 2019 | Paulette | Director |
| :: |
Honors
- In 2005 she was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for her film Trudell. Also in 2005 she won the Documentary Special Jury Award for Trudell at the Seattle International Film Festival.
- In 2008 she won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival with Frozen River. She also won Best Film at the Gotham Awards for Frozen River.
- In 2009 she was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best feature for Frozen River at the Independent Spirit Awards. Also at the Independent Spirit Awards she won the Piaget Producers Award also for Frozen River and Ibid.
- At the 2009 USA AFI Awards she won the AFI award for Movie of the Year again with Frozen River.
- In 2013 Rae was awarded the Vision Award at the Sun Valley Film Festival for her excellence in filmmaking.
- In 2016 Rae was recognized by Cinereach with the Producers Award. She was the inaugural recipient.
References
References
- (27 March 2023). "'Not a tribal citizen': Prominent Hollywood figure Heather Rae lacks connection to Cherokee Nation".
- (2016-04-27). "Movies About Women Nearly Impossible to Finance, Say Indie Producers".
- (18 January 2008). "Frozen River".
- "Heather Rae".
- (2014-03-16). "Johnny Sequoyah {{!}} About {{!}} Believe {{!}} NBC".
- (August 3, 2016). "5 Native Program Alumni Invited to Join the Academy".
- "Cinereach Producer Award".
- "Trudell {{!}} ITVS".
- (27 February 2007). "Local filmmakers get Bronco project".
- (29 January 2008). "BSU instructor wins prize at Sundance".
- Kaufman, Anthony. (2009-09-10). "Heather Rae".
- Knegt, Peter. (2008-12-02). "Awards Watch '08 {{!}} "River," "Rachel," "Ballast" Lead Spirit Award Nominations".
- "Heather Rae".
- Hernandez, Lee. (4 December 2008). "Penélope Cruz honored at Gotham Awards".
- Itzkoff, Compiled by Dave. (2008-12-03). "Gotham Award Winners (Published 2008)". The New York Times.
- Finke, Nikki. (2009-02-22). "2009 Spirit Awards: Truly Indie Anymore?".
- Catsoulis, Jeannette. (2010-07-29). "Telling a Soldier's Tale (Published 2010)". The New York Times.
- "The Dry Land".
- "Sundance Institute Names 2017 Episodic Lab Fellows".
- Bossick, Karen. (13 March 2018). "Your guide to the Sun Valley Film Festival".
- "Tribeca Film Institute".
- (May 24, 2012). "Sundance Institute Elects Three New Trustees".
- Leydon, Joe. (2014-03-24). "Film Review: 'I Believe in Unicorns'".
- Lincoln, Ross A.. (2016-06-29). "'Tallulah' Trailer: Kidnapping, Coming Of Age And Accidental Parenthood".
- (2019-05-15). "'Bull' Review".
- Otterson, Joe. (2019-02-28). "Heather Rae Sets First-Look TV Deal With Amazon".
- White, Peter. (2020-01-14). "Amazon Inks Exclusive Overall TV Deal With Brad Pitt's Plan B, Sets Mystery Drama 'Outer Range'".
- (16 June 2016). "Closer: Sundance London 2016 {{!}} Sight & Sound".
- (2019-08-30). "New Zealand Power of Inclusion Summit Adds 'Black-ish' Star".
- (2020-12-09). "US Ambassador to ET: 'Diplomacy,film can go hand in hand in terms of being tools for cultural outreach".
- (March 27, 2023). "Hollywood producer accused of faking Cherokee ancestry". The Guardian.
- (March 31, 2023). "Producer Heather Rae Addresses Native Heritage Controversy: 'For Several Years I Have Identified as an Ally' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "2016 Jury".
- Welk, Brian. (2019-06-07). "Cinereach Bestows $50,000 Awards to 4 Independent Film Producers (Exclusive)".
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