A multi-media, trans-genre interpretation of Scott Turner Schofield’s boundary-pushing, world-toured, award-winning performance piece embodying the adventure of becoming a man.
Creator: Scott Turner Schofield
Director, Executive Producer: Andrea James
Genre: Experimental
Video Aspect Ratio/Sound: 16:9 Dolby Digital
Feature Film | Web Videos | Podcast Episodes | Book
Representation: Lisa Blumenthal
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SYNOPSIS
In a media landscape focused on transgender women and mired in tropes about transition and turmoil, these 127 short pieces of wry, vulnerable and relatable awareness from a 20-year journey to becoming a man offer deep and playful insight—based in the human desire to live your truth—from an award-winning trans masculine artist.
OVERVIEW
While transgender men barely exist in the cultural imagination, trans masculine creator Scott Turner Schofield’s "Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps” spent 20 years generating 127 pieces of short content that deeply explore the gender-universal and particularly-trans themes of childhood, parenthood, love, sex, death, survival, and authenticity.
In the live one man show on which this content was based, audiences called out numbers from 1 to 127 to co-create a unique story every night. Translating from stage to screens, viewers will be able to choose by number which Steps they want to experience, or select a thematically-curated collection. Each Step maintains its own most authentic voice, crossing tone, genre, and media to create an immersive world of story through digital video, text, songs, and podcast episodes.
Tropes of transition and turmoil have smothered the landscape of trans storytelling, diminishing possibility for trans people, and those who love us. The 127 Steps record a lifetime from a trans perspective: a childhood believing in the identity that came true; a gender transition as just one moment whose drama is felt, but which recedes in the fullness of time; the pains and also joys of a #RealLiveTransAdult navigating the world. The ridiculous epic of 127 whole stories center a trans perspective—before, during, and 20 years after social and medical transition—forming a collection with unrivaled depth and focus.
This is also the story of a queer, non-binary feminist who consciously became someone everyone sees as a straight white man. Key to the work is an awareness, critique, and especially a sense of humor around the social issues that inevitably arise while becoming “the man.” As an exercise in self-awareness, the 127 Steps go 360 on all the intersections of gender, because they must, and because doing so makes a better story.
This work garnered major support, won awards, and toured successfully before Hollywood’s “transgender tipping point”—indeed, long before trans acceptance came as far as it has now. Its longevity underscores the quality of the work; and now, the world has never been more ready to take this adventure.
THE PROJECT
Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps works as a live performance, but it also lends itself to a more expansive artistic interpretation than the expected concert film that elevates successful one man shows.
This trans-media anthology supports each story to be told in its own most authentic voice.
Cinematic footage of Scott’s performance in front of an audience, as well as experimental films shot in a studio give each filmed Step its own look and feel; the video Steps stand alone as short-form content, and a curated collection exists as a feature-length One Man Show Special. A limited series podcast tells tales that must be heard, and written pieces of prose and poetry comprise a memoir that can be read in any order.
The platform has yet to be determined, but some groundbreaking home is out there, waiting for this epic storytelling project.
THE NEED
Real talk, URGENT: fully 50% of trans men attempt suicide—first as teens, and often more than once—because they feel so invisible and isolated (Williams Institute, UCLA). This entire project had to be created because of the historical lack of trans masculine representation across all media. Even with this project, and the slowly growing number of trans masculine stories entering the spotlight, trans men desperately need to see ourselves—with beauty, complexity, and simple regularity—to fight the devastating effects of invisibility and isolation. This project—and the megaphone of a platform—will save lives (we know, because we have already been told that it has.)
But also: everybody has gender issues! Women and girls face paralyzing gender bias, as #MeToo has shown us. Masculinity needs to change—but even “woke” men don’t know how. Men seeking to explore and change how they do masculinity will find an accessible, playful, but also real and powerful guide here. Most importantly, this project takes an unflinching, intimate look at the process of self-reflection anyone can take to become their most authentic self—which has always been an urgent human need.
Though this piece has toured the world, our web-based, multi-media interpretation of Scott’s singular performance piece will take this far beyond one audience at a time. This work can change the hearts of audiences around the world simultaneously: in movie theaters, in classrooms, on planes, in living rooms, and even on a scared and lonely teen’s laptop or phone.
The endurance of Becoming A Man in 127 EASY Steps — market-tested, one audience at a time, hundreds of times — reveals both its artistic merit and the power of its message. The stories this show has been telling since 2007 are built to satisfy the appetites of mainstream audiences on a much bigger platform.
AUDIENCE
An audience for this work has been diligently built over 13 years of touring the live show. We know they still support us, because they have donated to fund the project. Mothers, uncles, friends and coworkers of trans people—who were attracted to the work because they needed some way to know and support a loved one better—relayed vivid memories of the show they saw once, a decade before. We heard from so many people—trans and not—who scraped $27 together because they still badly want more people to have the powerful experience the 127 Steps gave them.
Audience communities include: 20% Theatre Company, Minneapolis; 7 Stages, Atlanta; Actor’s Express, Atlanta; Alternate ROOTS, Atlanta; The Adrienne Arsht Center, Miami; Appalachian State University; Brown University; Charis Books and More, Atlanta; Centre Dramatique de Bretagne, France; DiverseWorks, Houston; Emory University and Theatre Emory; The Evergreen State College; The Flynn Center, Burlington; Highways Performance Space, Santa Monica; LegionArts, Cedar Rapids; National Theatre of Belgium; Out North Contemporary Art House, Anchorage; Pangea World Theatre, Minneapolis; The Pat Graney Company, Seattle; The Playwright’s Center, Minneapolis; Real Art Ways, Hartford; The Straz Center, Tampa; TransAmsterdam; Trinity College Dublin; University of Kansas Lied Center, Lawrence; Up North Pride, Traverse City. Scott has toured to over 100 cities with different shows.
In addition to a strong social media presence, existing relationships with community partners include: 5050by2020 (a project of Time’s Up); Atlanta Pride; FREE MOM HUGS; Gender Education deMystification Symposium (GEMS); Georgia Equality; GLAAD; Lambda Literary Foundation; LA LGBT Center; The National Performance Network; PFLAG; Princess Grace Foundation-USA; TEDx; Time Out Youth, Charlotte; True Colors Conference.
THE ARTISTS
Scott Turner Schofield
Andrea James
SCOTT TURNER SCHOFIELD
Named a “Trans Influencer of Hollywood” by OUT Magazine, Scott Turner Schofield is an award-winning writer and producer, creating groundbreaking transgender content on and off-camera. He is the first out trans man to be nominated for an acting Emmy.
The first transgender actor in Daytime television, on CBS’s THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL, Scott has garnered international critical acclaim for his roles in STUDIO CITY (Amazon Prime), and the 2018 feature THE CONDUCTOR.
Working as a trans consultant in TV and film, the role he helped create on HBO’s EUPHORIA has been called “TV’s most interesting trans character” (Daily Beast) and “The future of TV” (Marie Claire).
Schofield has also been honored with a "Fruitie" for Best Off-Broadway Performance, a Princess Grace Foundation Acting Fellowship, 2 Lambda Literary Award finalist designations, 2 Indie Series Award nominations, and a National Performance Network Creation Fund commission.
ANDREA JAMES
Andrea James is a filmmaker and consumer activist. As Time magazine noted, she has helped major productions and companies as well as “worked on countless other projects related to LGBTQ identities.” She produced and appeared in the first all-transgender performance of THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES.
Other film and television projects include the feature TRANSAMERICA, the dating show TRANSAMERICAN LOVE STORY, the children’s film FAMILY RESTAURANT, the Showtime concert film ALEC MAPA: BABY DADDY, the FUSE docu-series TRANSCENDENT and NatGeo’s GENDER REVOLUTION. She recently produced and directed the talk show CONVERSATIONS WITH COCO, and she helped shape the 2020 Sundance documentary WHIRLYBIRD.
ARTIST PLATFORM
Social media reach:
Becoming a Man in 127 EASY Steps
Facebook | Instagram | Patreon
Scott Turner Schofield
Facebook | Instagram
Andrea James
Facebook | Instagram
Terra Naomi (composer, producer)
Facebook | Instagram
Calpernia Addams (editor, producer)
Facebook | Instagram
Traditional media outlets that have featured Scott and his work:
The Advocate; AP; BitchMedia; BuzzFeed; Daily Beast; Daily Mail; Entertainment Tonight; The Hollywood Reporter; The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; LGBTQ&A Podcast; New York Daily News; NPR; OUT Magazine; People Magazine; PerezHilton.com; Polygon; Reddit AMA; Soap Opera Digest; T: The Style Magazine of The New York Times; ThinkProgress; UTNE Reader.
SUPPORT
The film has earned support from the prestigious Independent Filmmaker Project! Donations of any size are tax-deductible and support the making of the film and web series through to their release.
Though this piece has toured the world, our web-based, multi-media interpretation of Scott’s singular performance piece will take this far beyond one audience at a time. It will reveal for audiences everywhere the transmasculine experience hidden in plain sight: the hilarity, the humanity, and the previously unexplored portrait of the artist as a new man — one who made a remarkable emotional and physical journey in order to become a man.
This work can change the hearts of audiences around the world simultaneously: in movie theaters, in classrooms, on planes, in living rooms, and even on a scared and lonely teen’s laptop or phone. Join us in bringing the unique and urgent message of Scott’s unforgettable performance piece to a larger audience, in this time when it is needed most.
Your support isn’t simply an investment in a media project. It’s a statement about the kind of world you want us to live in: a world colored by humor, dignity, and hope.
With gratitude,
Scott Turner Schofield - Writer/Performer
Andrea James - Producer
Be a part of the community that blazes the trail for this multi-media, trans-everything, epic storytelling odyssey! For as little as $1 per step, you’ll take every step along the way with behind-the-scenes, patron-only interactions and rewards.
REWARDS
Both IFP donors and Patreon* patrons will receive the following benefits:
For gifts of $127 or more: Lifetime access to all of the finished steps once they’re collected.
For gifts of $254 or more: All of the above, plus a list of all my favorite media (a reading list, a must-watch list, and a mixtape) that influenced the steps
For gifts of $635 or more: All of the above, plus a limited-edition thumb-drive containing all the stories
*Patreon is a way of supporting this project by contributing per piece of content. We will release one piece of content on a regular basis, until all 127 steps are out in the world! For people who choose to support via Patreon, the gifts of $127, $254, or $635 will be the total of all step contributions, over the course of those 127 weeks.
