Dana Ledoux Miller

Coming Full Circle with the Live-Action Moana

Dana Ledoux Miller ​is a shape-shifting scribe. ​

She was PA'ing on Lost and The Descendants when she first said out loud that she wanted to be a writer. A decade later, she's co-written and co-directed Moana 2 and written Disney's live-action Moana, in theaters July 10, becoming one of the ​few Pacific Islander writers steering a major Disney IP.

In this episode, we trace ​her full arc: from set life in Hawaii, to landing in Aaron Sorkin's writers' room on The Newsroom, to the surreal call that brought her onto Moana.

We talk about what it actually feels like to carry the weight of representation on a project this big, the pressure of getting it right, the imposter syndrome that hasn't fully gone away even after a billion-dollar movie, and how she handles public reaction to work she's poured herself into.

We also get into PEAK, the nonprofit she co-founded, so she's not the only name on the list of Pacific Islander storytellers working in Hollywood.

Plus! Desert island essentials, her favorite Hawaiian island, and what The Rock is actually cooking.

Thanks for doing this life thing with me!

xx cg

“How we make something, I truly believe, is just as important as the thing you’re making.”

- Dana Ledoux Miller

Episode Transcript