Magnolia Pictures and the Duplass Brothers have teamed up to launch an Oscar campaign for "Tangerine" stars Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor, for what will be the first awards season push for transgender actresses by a movie distributor in Hollywood history.
Rodriguez is being pushed as Lead Actress, and Taylor as Supporting.
"Jay and I are new to the Academy, so we’re just figuring this whole thing out," said Mark Duplass. "One thing that has become apparent to us as we look at this stuff, it seems that the TV Academy has embraced what’s happening in the trans movement with ‘Transparent’ and ‘Orange is the New Black.’ We feel that the film Academy is a little behind on that front […] This is the time for it. We’re in the middle of a civil rights movement.”
Directed by Sean Baker and released by Magnolia in July, the film earned a near-$700,000 domestic box office gross – not bad for feature shot entirely with iPhone 5s phones.
So what’s next for the actresses, beyond an Oscar push? Is Duplass correct in saying that Hollywood seems ready to fully embrace the trans movement (in all its diversity), and both Taylor and Rodriguez are coming along at just the right time?
No news yet on what Rodriguez is planning to tackle next, but, in an interview with Screen magazine, published this morning, Mya Taylor shared that she is developing a TV series based on her transition.
“My experience was actually way more dramatic than that of the characters in ‘Tangerine’,” said Taylor, adding, "I would be interested to portray that journey. I’m trying to get a TV series started about it. It will cover the struggle pre-transition, during transition and after. I have a team working on it and I would be an executive producer.”
It’s still early in the process, so no other details are available at this time.
Taylor did just complete filming on a short film titled "Happy Birthday, Marsha!," which is directed by Reina Gossett and Sasha Wortzel, and also stars Grace Dunham, Lena Dunham’s ("Girls") younger sister.