Tamara Stratton grew up in Oklahoma. Her love of storytelling started early in life and she has been a voracious reader since she encountered “A Wrinkle In Time” in the third grade. A chronic daydreamer, she would lose herself in her own imaginative adventures for hours, to the concern of her parents and the annoyance of her peers. An outsider in school, she finally found her footing in theater performance. In theater she found a socially acceptable way to participate in the magic of storytelling. She went on to achieve a BA and MA in Drama.
Her experiences range from Shakespeare to Modern Japanese Theater to Neil Simon, Chinese Opera, to performance art and film. Acting taught her the importance of strong characters and honed her ear for dialogue. The exploration of genres helped her creativity, and while she always yearned to write, she did so quietly and mostly for her own creative outlet.
In her late 20’s she completed a novel, entitled, appropriately (as it has never seen the light of day) “The Black City”. While attending graduate school in the San Francisco Bay Area and acting in several small companies, she wrote shorter scripts for stage and collaborated in small experimental theatrical performances. She wrote the script for a short film called “Freres” for the 24-Hour San Francisco Film Festival and also completed an original feature script entitled “Support”.
It wasn’t until she moved to Los Angeles with her husband, who works in the film industry, that she decided to seriously pursue writing for television and film. As a result, she joined a Los Angeles based weekly writing group called “The Engine Writer’s Workshop”. There, she seriously began studying the format and process of writing for television, a medium that she loves for its ability to delve into intricate storylines and deep characterization. The result of her first year with the writer’s group included writing four episodes of an original limited run series concept entitled “Retirement Plan”.
After submitting the pilot for the show to Robot Eating Robot’s Friday Readers Club, the episode was given a staged reading in November of 2023 in Chicago, where she was able to hear her work performed by working actors. During that time, she discovered The Native American Media Alliance and submitted in the hope of further honing her craft. Tamara is honored to be able to participate in the 9th Annual Native American TV Writer’s Lab.
A proud member of the Osage Nation (Gray Horse Clan), she has been surprised to find that her native heritage echoes strongly in her writing. While she is drawn to comedy, many of the themes focus on loss, loneliness, and the dread of being invisible and silent. Tamara’s hope is to one day, be a showrunner and make a living creating and telling compelling stories focused on ordinary people who are often overlooked.
Currently, she works as an English and Drama Teacher for a high school in East Los Angeles. She continues to attend her writing group, where she is writing and workshopping multiple projects. She currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband, two kids and a saucy dog she rescued off a ramp to the I-5.