ABC Family 'My Transparent Life' Docu-Series to Highlight Transgender Experiences
ABC Family is preparing to launch "My Transparent Life," a docu-series chronicling the life and times of a teenager whose finds out that his parents are getting a divorce and that his father is transitioning into a woman.
Rolling Stone notes that this title of the new show alludes to the hit Amazon comedy-drama and that will also focus on the couple's teenage son, Ben, in a similar fashion.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ryan Seacrest Productions, the studio responsible for the cult family reality TV series "Keeping Up with the Kardashians," will be supervising the show's development, with the Emmy Award winning television host and talk radio personality Ryan Secrest coming on as executive producer.
"At RSP, we love family stories, and we couldn't be more excited that ABC Family is helping us share this heartwarming story of how an ordinary teenager grapples with a challenging and unexpected family situation," Seacrest said in a statement. "We feel audiences will find Ben's story relatable on a number of different levels, because at the end of the day, family is family unconditionally."
"ABC Family is best known for its complex, loving and relatable family programming, and we are so proud to partner with Ryan Seacrest Productions to share Ben's incredible real-life story," ABC Family President Tom Ascheim said. "While Ben's family situation is unusual, the themes and coming-of-age issues are universal, and we think our viewers will find a real connection to them."
Trans-cinema is "in" in Hollywood, especially as far as documentaries go. The announcement of the ABC docu-drama comes shortly after supermodel Tyra Banks stated she was working on a transgender docu-series TransAmerica that will will air on VH1, and mere months after The Hollywood Reporter claimed "Girls" actress-writer Lena Dunham was working on "Three Suits," a documentary "about a tailor who works with transgender clients."
Voices from the trans-community are being heard as well. Partly based on real events, "Transparent" was inspired by show creator Jill Soloway's experiences with her father. Known for pushing the envelop on family dramas "Six Feet Under" and "United States of Tara," Soloway had a lot to lose when she pitched a story based on her own life story after her father announced he was transitioning.
"I wanted to make something that would make the world safer for my parent," Soloway said in a Rolling Stone interview earlier this year. It became a universally lauded show, with 2014 turning the tide on transgender issues.
Earlier this year, Transgender actress Laverne Cox also earned a Golden Globe nomination for her role in the Netflix original series, "Orange Is the New Black," and hosted an MTV documentary on transgender youth called "The T Word." While Against Me! frontwoman Laura Jane Grace came out as trans in promotion for the band's landmark album "Trans Disphoria Blues." She even produced her own online documentary series about being transgender in the punk scene, "True Trans."
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