Tobi Iverson-Halliday

Tobi Iverson is a Tsimshian and Turtle Mountain Chippewa screenwriter from Anacortes, Washington. She holds a degree in Native American Studies and Anthropology from the University of Washington and is dedicated to writing culturally grounded, cinematic stories that center Indigenous power, presence, and perspective.

Her debut feature screenplay, Wild Woman of the Woods, is a mythic Indigenous action-thriller set in the 1800s along the Northern Pacific Coast. It follows a fierce Indigenous heroine and villain in a supernatural survival tale rooted in oral traditions. Set during a pivotal era when British, Spanish, and American empires collided with tribal nations, the story weaves Indigenous worldviews with the historical tensions of first contact and colonization. Through this lens, Tobi brings to life a world of totem poles, soul catchers, bentwood boxes, cedar canoes, and ancestral spirit wisdom, visual and spiritual landscapes rarely seen on screen with accuracy and awe.

Since May 2025, the script has earned national and international recognition, including: Semi-Finalist at the Oscar-qualifying Rhode Island International Film Festival; Best Diverse Writer at the Santa Barbara International Screenplay Awards; and Finalist at both the Cambridge Script Festival and Toronto International Women Film Festival. Tobi was selected as a Second Rounder at the prestigious Austin Film Festival and invited to the 2025 Bend Film Festival BASECAMP Retreat — a competitive development program for emerging filmmakers. She was also awarded a 2025 Artist Trust GAP grant to support the continued development of her project.

Tobi’s work uplifts Native stories, and invites audiences into Indigenous worlds with authenticity, emotion, and cinematic power.