A new animated comedy will make history when it launches later this year as the first animated series to feature a transgender character in a lead role that is also voiced by a transgender actress, Julie Rei Goldstein.
The series, Gen Zed, is about four college-age individuals who come together through the online gaming community and decide to move into a tiny studio apartment in downtown Los Angeles together.
It is being written and produced by Hayden Black, who is known for the award-winning and critically lauded show Goodnight Burbank. The series has a slew of popular Hollywood names attached to it, including Richard Schiff, of the West Wing; Jane Wiedlin, from the Go-Go's and Star Trek; Miracle Laurie, from Dollhouse; and Matthew Del Negro, of Scandal.
Black said there are many transgender icons involved in the project, including Jenna Talackova, model and TV personality; Trace Lysette, from Transparent; models Peche Di and Arisce Wanzer; and stand-up comedian and Transparent actor Ian Harvie.
Black said he wanted to create a show aimed at the millennial generation that examines how technology has impacted that generation.
"These young people have new ways to communicate, millions of choices of things to download, watch, and play," Black said. "How do you discover who you are when you have so much choice?"
He said the millennial generation is the "most fascinating generation" because of its influence on the generations behind it and ahead of it.
"It's very easy for people to dismiss younger people over life experiences, but it's fascinating that millennials are having such a huge effect," he said. "Their influence extends in both directions."
Black said choosing to include a transgender character as the narrator and lead came about during a previous project he was working on.
"A few years ago I wrote a script and there was a character that was a repressed, angry, gay drummer and the studio suggested I make him out … but I felt like I've seen this character and so I went back to original, but then I thought, I've already seen this too. I started looking at who haven't we seen?"
With the creation of Gen Zed's lead character, Shona, Black said he created a " human being who happens to be transgender."
Shona has aspirations of being a stand-up comic.
"With Shona, I wanted to create a character that would resonate with teens and younger transgender people," Black said.
Black said the story of Leelah Alcorn [the Ohio transgender teen who committed suicide last year] really resonated with him.
"She made a statement that reminded me when we are kids everything is black and white," Black said. "She was under the impression that if she didn't start hormones by a certain time she'd be an ugly woman or always a man."
With Shona, Black wanted a character that did not match up with the feminine ideal.
"She is proud of who she is," he said. "Shona has only been on hormones six months, she is proud of the body she has, whether she changes it or not."
Black said in addition to Goldstein's input, he also spoke with many transgender people to help ensure the authenticity of the character.
"She was always there making sure we hit the right notes with the character," he said. "I think we've created someone really special and a really strong character."
Black said Shona would reflect the full scope of reality of the lives of transgender individuals.
It was also important to Black to hire a transgender actress to voice Shona.
"All the characters are voiced by actors and actresses that come from the same backgrounds," he noted.
In addition to Shona, Gen Zed's other characters living in the cramped studio apartment, include Cameron, who is described as a "20-year-old African-American who thinks himself a poet," Betsy, "a 21-year-old Asian-American trust-fund kid who wants to be a designer," and Huey, "a 23-year-old anti-social and 'lost boy' who webcams for a living."
There is also a fifth character that Black said is somewhat of a mystery, because he is an avatar.
"They have no idea who he is—he's just a voice with an avatar," he said.
In addition to the show's stars, Black said he has hired several talented people behind the scenes also, including several transgender animators and colorists, and the soundtrack will include work by bands with trans musicians.
The first season of Gen Zed consists of eight episodes that are each between five and seven minutes in length.
Black said he is currently working on how the web series will be made available to viewers. He said web distribution is the goal, particularly given that millennials are the show's target audience and his previous success with the platform.
"It's not for older people, its for 15-25 year olds," he said. "It's a comedy and it will probably offend some people. That's what I want to create with "Gen Zed." It's not for everybody."
But he does hope the show helps the people who do love it.
"If we can save one life with education and laughs, then words fail me to describe what it would feel like, and I feel like we have the potential to honor that," he said.
Visit GenZed.org .
