Rain Valdez, Rachel Leyco Starring in Trans-Led Romcom ‘Re-Live’ (EXCLUSIVE)
Rain Valdez and Rachel Leyco will star in the trans-led romantic comedy “Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island Cheerleader,” Variety has learned exclusively.
Fae Pictures has partnered with Now>Ever to finance and produce and will be pitching the project as a part of their slate at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival and at Toronto’s Inside Out LGBT Film Festival in October.
The script, written by Valdez and Leyco, centers on a high school in Guam that decides to create a “Do-Over Week” for its 10-year class reunion, where Valdez’ 29-year-old transgender Hollywood movie star Rowena decides to face her past and go back to her hometown to live her childhood dream of becoming a cheerleader. But Rowena’s commitment to the cheer squad falters when her mother’s cancer spreads. Leyco will co-star as Rowena’s sister.
The project won the Inside Out LGBT Pitch Please! contest last year in Toronto. Producers are Shant Joshi of Fae Pictures and Valdez, who received a Primetime Emmy nomination for actress in a short form comedy or drama series for her lead role in “Razor Tongue,” which she created, crowdfunded and produced.
“As queer Filipina-Americans, this story is special to us, as not only are we spotlighting our underrepresented communities and pushing them into the forefront, but through this funny, heartfelt romcom, we are changing the narrative in cinema — that women, Asian-Americans and LGBTQ+ folx, belong and need to be represented in these spaces,” said Leyco and Valdez in a statement.
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