From Steven to Susan - CNN Documents an Extraordinary Journey of Gender Reassignment and Self-Discovery for Public Official
Her Name Was Steven premieres March 13 & March 14 at 8pm and 11pm ET & PT
Steven Stanton, former Largo, FL, city manager, appeared to have the perfect life: a loving wife and son, an influential job. Stanton described it as "paradise." That dream world - "Steven's World" - all changed when Stanton's plans to become a woman were revealed. Stanton tells a dramatic story of public and private struggle during this transition. Interviews with Stanton's wife, teen-age son and co-workers, along with childhood diaries, personal journals, and family films, take viewers into the world of Steven as he transitions to Susan.
CNN Presents: Her Name Was Steven is a compelling two-hour documentary premiering Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14 at 8pm, 11pm, and 2am Eastern.
When local reporter Lorri Helfand, following a tip about Stanton's cross dressing and explorations of gender reassignment, called Stanton to confirm her story, the city manager's world came crashing down. Stanton, now facing a public professional and personal outing, was thrust abruptly into a media firestorm. A press conference and explosive community hearing ensued, ending Stanton's Largo city manager career, fundamentally altering his family forever, and forcing Stanton to make decisions about how he would live the rest of his life.
"For me...I just knew that what was inside, this presence...this feeling of being somebody other than what I was on the outside, was real and it's been something I've struggled with for many years of my life," says Stanton in the documentary.
CNN followed Stanton's life for more than two years. The resulting portrait is sensitively told in Stanton's own voice, with arresting candidness and honesty, and produced using natural sound. Stanton also recorded video diaries throughout the transition. The film was screened at seven major American film festivals to appreciative audiences. March 13 will be the film's television premiere.
Bud Bultman is the executive producer for Her Name was Steven. Rose Arce is the senior producer. Scott Matthews is director of programming for CNN Productions which includes the award-winning documentary series CNN Presents and the ground-breaking CNN Special Investigations Unit.
CNN Worldwide, a division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company, is the most trusted source for news and information. Its reach extends to nine cable and satellite television networks; one private place-based network; two radio networks; wireless devices around the world; CNN Digital Network, the No. 1 network of news Web sites in the United States; CNN Newsource, the world's most extensively-syndicated news service; and strategic international partnerships within both television and the digital media.
