Her Name Was Steven

Submitted by on

Printer-friendly version

Author: 

Taxonomy upgrade extras: 

This is just a short video blurb, Her Name Was Steven and here are some 'iReport' messages Transgender messages

Disclosure: I've worked for CNN/Turner for 10+ years. I transitioned in 2003 and work in software development, not the on-air side of things.

We had a pre-release screening of this documentary yesterday, Wednesday, March 11th. It was  well attended, well received, with a panel after. There were good discussions and good questions.

I'd love to read your comments about the documentary. I will not share any comments unless explicit permission is given by the person commenting to me.

Take care,
Brenda

Click Like or Love to appropriately show your appreciation for this post:

Comments

That is a fascinating....

Submitted by on

blurb. From the intro we see here, it appears that it may provide a balanced look at things. When will the story broadcast?

The first airing is

Submitted by on

The first airing is Saturday, March 13, at 8pm, with a second at 11pm.

This documentary is a first for CNN. Every other documentary involved one of the "personalities", someone like Christiane Amanpour or Anderson Cooper, presenting and 'leading' the viewer through the story. This is different. There isn't anyone doing that. It was about 2 years of following Susan around filming her, plus some interviews with people who were involved, such as her electrologist, therapist plus some commentary from an interview CNN did with Donna Rose.

So, the story is what it is. Yes, there was editing, what to include, what to leave out, sequencing plus some lighting and sometimes background music, but the story tells itself. I'm not sure that "balanced" enters into it. It is 2 years of one person's life condensed into 80 minutes of video.

I think it is a realistic presentation. As the first person to transition at Turner, I was asked to be involved early on in the project but I was never part of the documentary itself. I also viewed much of the early cuts injecting my thoughts on scenes to be included, excluded and sequenced.

I hope that people will watch and think about the documentary, most especially those people who know little of the issues we face or even that we exist.

Brenda

More like this