This time four years ago the all consuming passion I had was getting Born Stars produced.

Today in honor of Transgender Day of Visibility, I wanted to showcase what could have been.

Axios:

President Biden issued a statement Wednesday to mark March 31 as the Transgender Day of Visibility and “recognize the resilience, strength, and joy of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people.”

The big picture: The proclamation comes as conservative states continue to introduce and pass new anti-trans legislation, with dozens of bills targeting trans youth. 2021 was the deadliest year on record for trans people in America.

What he’s saying: “To everyone celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility, I want you to know that your President sees you,” Biden said. “On this day and every day, we recognize the resilience, strength, and joy of transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people.”

• “We celebrate the activism and determination that have fueled the fight for transgender equality,” he added. “We acknowledge the adversity and discrimination that the transgender community continues to face across our Nation and around the world.”
• “Like never before, they are sharing their stories in books and magazines; breaking glass ceilings of representation on television and movie screens; enlisting — once again — to serve proudly and openly in our military; getting elected and making policy at every level of government; and running businesses, curing diseases, and serving our communities in countless other ways.”
• “Despite this progress, transgender Americans continue to face discrimination, harassment, and barriers to opportunity,” Biden said, citing efforts to criminalize gender-affirming care, outlaw certain discussions of LGBTQ issues in schools and ban trans children from participating on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
• “I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating discrimination against all transgender, gender nonconforming, and nonbinary people — and all people.”

The big picture: The Biden administration has repeatedly condemned states’ efforts to target trans youth.

• 85% of trans and or non-binary youth said recent debates over state laws that target trans people have negatively impacted their mental health, according to a January poll by the Trevor Project, an organization that provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth.

• Medical experts and pediatricians have especially expressed concern about new mental health crises among trans kids due to bills aimed at criminalizing gender-affirming health care.

• Biden became the first sitting U.S. president to issue a proclamation in observance of Transgender Day of Visibility last year. The international day was first marked in 2009 as a way to commemorate trans lives and accomplishments.

Born Stars was a project and planned web based reality show about a group of friends that form an intergenerational queer family.

They may be woke AF, but they all definitely wish they could get more sleep.

Starring four transgender men,  we sought to bring more awareness to the transmasculine community in hopes of increasing representation for transgender youth.

The show features bandmates Cole Hayes, Xander Idris, Ethan Remillard, and Rowan Seitz. Born Stars seeks to see if the recurring phenomenal popularity of a boy band can transition (pun intended) and still capture the kind of pop-culture zeitgeist they have had throughout history.

From the pitch:

Born Stars follows the guys as they navigate life in LA seeking a lucrative music deal—even though at this point they’d settle for a Thursday night open mic at Ghengis Cohen.

The concept behind the show started as a conversation between the creators in Seattle in 2017. The lead creator Savas Abadsidis is the senior editor of The Advocate magazine (the nation’s longest running LGBTQ news magazine) and is gay, Hayes and Remillard are gay and transgender. They often discussed how rare cis and gay male relationships are to the point that they are nearly invisible and it occurred to them that this is something no one has seen normalized in popular culture. Says Hayes,“this a relationship that’s unique to us— that’s why it’s special, that’s why it’s worth talking about.” All of the creators firmly believe that one of the main contributing factors to the animosity and vitriol in the national conversation around LGB—particularly Trans—rights and issues is semiotic one. Says Abadsidis, “It’s Babel—often times we’re saying the same thing and too quick to condemn and judge—we’re speaking different languages and part of the mission of this show is to present a united front via our unique friendships.”

We were sure if executed properly this story would resonate with viewers because once you fall in love with the guys you won’t be able to tear yourself away from them no matter how foreign the issues may be to you. It’s just boys being boys with a twist. No act of congress has ever advanced human rights in the United States or had the impact of a pop culture phenomenon featuring stars of that community.

Topics addressed on the show will range from sex and dating to hormone replacement therapy (HRT) to daddy issues, and the fact that dating between cis and trans guys is still fraught with stigma and misinformation.

You know, locker room talk.

“There’s no handbook for trans teens — we should come with a ‘some assembly required sticker.’ Hopefully with this platform we can help connect the dots for health—sexual and otherwise for other trans kids because we’ve done it,” says Hayes.

The team:

• Creator, Showrunner, and Executive Producer
  Savas Abadsidis is currently the senior editor for Retrograde Communications, the editorial content supplier for Pride Media whose magazine portfolio includes: The Advocate, HIV Plus, Out Traveler, Chill, their corresponding websites, and pride.com.

   

  Abadsidis began his career at retailer Abercrombie & Fitch, where he created the Abercrombie & Fitch Quarterly about which Contently recently said: “From 1997 to 2003, Abercrombie & Fitch printed A&F Quarterly as its cultural manifesto—at once a magazine and a catalog. The idea is familiar to us now, with publications like Net-a-Porter’s Porter and Casper’s Van Winkle’s. But surprisingly, Abercrombie & Fitch showed up early to the content marketing party, a decade ahead of its time.”

  Abadsidis worked closely with A&F CEO Mike Jeffries to “pioneer the most dramatic retail theater in the business.”

  Lest you think that selling overpriced clothes to rich white college kids is a slam dunk, Abadsidis’ next role was a departure when he was recruited by urban wear designer Marc Ecko to steer and conceptualize his magazine and website Complex Media.

  Abadsidis has written, produced, and strategically promoted highly viewed multimedia web based content including The Fair Games Project, for the 2014 Sochi Olympics—which garnered over one million views on YouTube—and Gilead Sciences—for whom in 2015, he co-wrote and produced three spots promoting the then largely unknown HIV prophylactic drug Truvada aka PrEP.

   

   

   

  Creator and Director Lou Peterson is a graduate of the Columbia University Graduate Film Program. His thesis project, In The Blood, debuted on LOGO and has more recently started a run on REVRY TV. His latest short film, Give Baby A Kiss is an award-winning thriller that debuted at the Hollywood Chinese Theater and went on to play at numerous festivals around the world. It is set for release in the Amazon Prime anthology series, The Void: Volume 3. Currently, Lou is set to direct his next feature Cracked for producer Philip Pierce (Boy Culture).

   

  Creator and Story Supervisor Eddie Borey is a graduate of Harvard University. Eddie’s first script Open Grave made the black list and was produced starring Sharlto Copley (District 9). Borey’s next movie Boss Level comes out in 2019 starring Mel Gibson and Naomi Watts. He is also the award-winning playwright of Christmas in Hanoi, and a short story author.

  Story Editor Jessica Merliss is graduate of Bard College and a culinary archivist pursuing an MA in Food Studies and an MLIS in Library & Information Science at New York University—she is also the Editor-in-Chief of Dish Rag Magazine. She is bi- coastal, living in both Los Angeles and NYC, and spends most of her time helping older women write cookbooks. Abadsidis says of Merliss: “Jess is an editor’s editor; her eye for detail and hilarious wit make her invaluable to this project.”

   

  Cinematographer Rahman Moore is an accomplished screenwriter, aspiring director, and activist. Moore brings a unique street level view to his camera work. “I knew from the moment Sav pitched this to me that this was a definite hit and I wanted to be on board.” Moore is also a contributor to Chill magazine.

   

  Designer Kat Ivanova created our fab logo and is a trans activist who occasionally moonlights as an archival restoration colorist in the comics industry. She provides art direction & consultation for both emerging and established firms throughout the New York Metro Area.

   

  Marketing Director David J. Gillespie has been a marketing and branding executive for the better part of the last 20 years. He worked for Bon Jovi Management, where he handled day-to-day world touring activities. Gillespie career has included stints at Island Records, Elektra Records, and Atlantic Records, where he was responsible for launching new artists, maintaining his current rosters, and putting out Major Motion Picture Soundtracks. Working with the global advertising agency, MAXUS, where he oversaw music initiatives for clients such as Church and Dwight. The focus of programs was to bring sexual health issues to the younger consumer through the use of interviews, video content, and live shows in major markets across the nation in conjunction with radio stations.

   

  Story Consultant, Screenwriter, and stand-up comedian Patrick Carone graduated from Yale and is the former Executive Editor of Maxim and now works as Director of Special Events at Entrepreneur magazine.

   

  Publicity and Production Coordinator Desirée Guerrero has always been drawn to the art of storytelling—whether through visual art, filmmaking, or writing. A native of Southern California—Guerrero is part of the award winning editorial team behind The Advocate, Plus, Chill, and Out Traveler magazines.

  Producer Dekker Dryer is currently chief creative officer at Clever Fox where his clients include Disney, Warner, NFL, Fox, among others. Prior to that, Dekker was an executive at Participant Media for several years. MovieMaker and Entrepreneur magazines have called Dekker a VR Pioneer. He’s directed live- action pieces, as well as animated interactive and immersive productions for Disney, Hallmark, Warner Bros, SyFy, Bose, Fox and Participant Media generating millions of views. In augmented reality the AR horror event The Summoning which opened to over twenty thousand visitors at the L.A. convention center. The Summoning was praised by Blumhouse.com, Dreadcentral and UploadVR, and was heralded as the “first of its kind.” Dekker’s collaborative AR storytelling project, What We Leave Behind, opened in Park City this year. His latest immersive experience is for Warner Bros, centered around the AAA gaming franchise, Hitman, with its debut at E3 2018.

   

  Dryer is an organizer of the 2018 Slamdance Film Festival’s DIG (Digital, Interactive and Gaming) as well as the creator and instructor of Columbia College Chicago’s AR/VR Producing Program. Dekker has spoken about immersive storytelling at the Cannes Film Festival, NAB, Sundance, VRX, The TV Academy, and Digital Hollywood.

   

  Dryers’s interest in producing this project came from a long- standing wish to work with Abadsidis, Dryer says, “Savas is an incredible communicator. He has the ability to distill a concept down to its most newsworthy aspects, then amplify it across the media landscape. Whether it’s a product, an event, or an idea worth sharing, he’s able to clearly identify who it speaks to and how to reach them.”

   

  Producer Timmy Rheault has been consulting on groundbreaking projects that seek to blur the line between entertainment and design for over 20 years. His firm, RHETROACTIVE, creates compelling brand stories for the built environment. While these projects span across sectors ranging from theme parks to hospitality and retail, the connecting tissue is a commitment

  to engage guests in new and innovative ways that tell a story, create a memory and deliver commercial success.

   

  Major brands and IP-holders have sought out Rheault’s specialized expertise to bring fresh ideas to more mainstream projects. Companies like Discovery Communications, BBC, National Geographic, Parques Reunidos, Universal Studios, Twentieth Century Fox, Starbucks, Oakley, Hersheys, and Starwood Vacations have engaged Rheault and his team to get a unique perspective on design and customer engagement in an era where creating meaningful out-of-home connections are increasingly rare. Rheault says, “Savas and I have been dying to work together since becoming BFFs nearly twenty years ago. I think this is the kind of show the world needs right now.”

   

  Producer DeMarco Majors is an ex pro-basketball player, actor, model and TV host. During the course of his remarkable athletic career, Majors played for teams in Australia, Brazil, Argentina and the American Basketball Association. As the only pro- basketball player to ever come out before retirement, Majors broke ground in dealing openly with prejudice and homophobia in the world of professional sports. Because of his personal experience, he is now a spokesman for gay athletes, and in 2008 he was named one of OUT Magazine’s top 100 most influential gay men and women.

  Majors has starred in the LOGO series Shirts & Skins, walked the runway at New York Fashion Week, and guest-starred on Law & Order. He has also appeared in Beyonce’s ‘Freakum Dress’ video and made his off-Broadway debut at the Actors Playhouse in JL King’s production of RAW. Majors was recently featured in The Advocate magazine’s 50th Anniversary celebrating the most influential LGBT people in the magazine’s history.

   

  Majors came out as HIV-positive on the cover of Plus Magazine last year.

   

  Producer Diane Anderson-Minshall is the recipient of several awards including the 2018 Sarah Pettit Memorial Award for the LGBTQ Journalist of the Year. She is the founder and CEO of Retrograde Communications, a Pride Media editorial partner, where she serves as editorial director of four print magazines: The Advocate (the nation’s oldest and largest LGBTQ magazine), Chill (for young men of color), Plus (for people living with HIV), and Out Traveler (relaunching in 2019). She’s also director of TinyLivingChic. com, Chill.us, and HIVPlusMag.com and executive producer of the web-series My Health, My Way, HIV Stops With Me, The T With Dr. D, and IPrEP4.

   

  Anderson-Minshall is also the President of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. She’s the author of four queer mystery novels (Blind Curves, Blind Faith, Blind Leap, Punishment With Kisses) from Bold Strokes Books and a memoir, Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders (which she penned with trans journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall, her co-pilot of 27 years).

   

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