An Award-Winning Short Film Premiere
By Joan S. Peck
If you haven’t heard of Vicki-Ann Bush yet, you will soon be able to recognize her name as the author of the YA Alex McKenna fiction series, as she becomes known for her talent in bringing to light what it means to be transgender in this award-winning short film.
Vicki-Ann Bush is a storyteller of the strange and unusual. “For as long as I can remember, the paranormal has been a part of my life. Since a child, I’ve had experiences with sight, sound, and touch from the other side of the veil. Whether it was a whisper in my ear or the brush of a hand across my cheek, this has been my world. It’s a part of my soul and the influence for my books … joined together in life’s adventure.”
Who is Alex McKenna? Alex is a 17-year-old transgender boy with a rich history of Strega witches who can communicate with the dead and is the main character in the book series. With his girlfriend Margaret and his spirited great-grandmother by his side, Alex helps lost souls resolve their earthly connections and move on.
The Alex McKenna series is particularly popular with young adults because it opens the minds of those exploring the idea of the paranormal and helps them to understand the reality and aspects of Alex becoming transgender to connect to his true self. This is expressed lovingly through Bush’s talented writing of a growing relationship between Alex and Margaret. Her books involve the entire family’s dealings with Alex’s transition and coming together to solve mysteries.
Bush has screenwritten her short film to focus on the critical time when Margaret is introduced into Alex’s personal life when he shares that he is transgender. It is a touching film that has won four awards and is bound to earn more as more people begin to understand and appreciate the reality of what transgender is about.
The premiere was held this month at The Center Las Vegas to a roomful of people excited to see what Bush wrote and produced. After the film was shown, the audience was introduced to the actors and those who were a part of creating the film and could ask them questions.
- Eric Velarde – Director
- On Screen: Levi Gaines – Alex McKenna
- Vicki-Ann Bush – Writer/Producer, played Gina LaBoccetta
- Bekah Wray – Margaret
- Sorcie Elle – Music
- Jase Walker – Jacob
- Brandi Van Ry – Make-Up Artist
- Jalen Williams-Getz – Creepy Guy
Congratulations to them all for this groundbreaking and award-winning short film. Look for it soon on YouTube.
