She’s the He Director Siobhan McCarthy on Creating the Trans Indie High School Comedy.

      Resourcefulness is essential in the indie film scene, but few demonstrate it quite like Siobhan McCarthy. Alongside writing and directing the ultra-low-budget film She's the He, McCarthy also took on roles as a camera operator, editor, co-composer, and animator for the project, which will screen this weekend at Oklahoma City’s deadCenter film festival.

      “I had to take on all those roles because we simply didn’t have the funds to hire anyone else,” McCarthy explains. “I taught myself how to use Logic to produce the score in about a week and ended up using a free trial.”

      The film, which is also being showcased in New York City and will reach Los Angeles on June 19, draws inspiration from the lively studio teen comedies of the 2000s like Easy A, Mean Girls, and She’s the Man (the title itself is a nod to this genre).

      “U.S. studios used to produce this kind of comedy and share it globally. We were once the hub for this style of exuberant teen comedy, but it’s an export we no longer create,” McCarthy states. “Studios aren't as keen on catering to the tastes of young audiences, which leaves the responsibility on us to create our own content.”

      The comedy follows high school students Alex (Nico Carney) and Ethan (Misha Osherovich) who pretend to be trans women to a) dispel rumors about being gay and b) get closer to Alex's crush, Sasha (Malia Pyles). The twist? Once they gain access to the girls' locker room and female-only spaces, Ethan discovers that she is genuinely a trans woman.

      While Ethan’s genuine coming out as a trans woman isn’t a surprise – it’s revealed in the trailer – the rest of the lighthearted, raunchy runtime delves into Ethan’s experiences post-coming out, the intricacies of gender, and the absurdities surrounding so-called “Bathroom Bills.”

      As the trailer’s voiceover notes, the movie features “trans people portraying cis people and trans people portraying trans individuals.” McCarthy purposefully cast actors in their 20s and 30s as high schoolers to evoke the feel of early 2000s teen comedies. However, juggling age and gender requirements posed significant challenges for the production team.

      “With regard to trans representation, our casting options were extremely limited because Hollywood hasn’t provided trans actors with many opportunities,” McCarthy notes. “We essentially started with a very constrained group to consider for casting.”

      The cast was primarily assembled by reaching out to trans and queer actors via Instagram. Tatiana Ringsby was cast as Forest, thanks to producer Vic Brant’s connections within a Los Angeles lesbian network (as McCarthy describes it, “every lesbian in Los Angeles knows each other”). Mark Indelicato, known from Hacks and Ugly Betty, got involved as Davis due to his friendship with Brant from their time at NYU. Carney, a trans comic with a significant following on Instagram, was brought on board just a week before filming began.

      “It was crucial for me that trans men play the cis characters and that we highlight trans individuals in this film,” McCarthy states. “With most of our cast being trans and a majority of the crew also identifying as trans, even the background actors—those seen entering and exiting the bathrooms—are predominantly trans.”

      She’s the He writer-director Siobhan McCarthy. Photo courtesy of Obscured Releasing.

      Leah Morrison’s costume design particularly catered to the majority-trans cast.

      “Clothing is generally made for cis bodies,” McCarthy observes, highlighting that society predominantly does not mass-produce clothing that fits trans bodies well.

      “We were incredibly fortunate to have trans designers create all of our costumes, which allowed us to custom-make a dress for Misha. My costume designer Leah and our stylist Robbie [Lundegard] handcrafted many of these costumes from scratch with little to no budget through sheer resourcefulness.”

      Ingenuity also played a vital role during the post-production phase. The team had only six weeks to complete an edit to submit for McCarthy’s ideal festival, SXSW.

      “It truly was one of those situations where we didn’t even anticipate going as far as South by, and then we were incredibly fortunate to sell out almost all of our screenings there, even securing an additional screening due to high demand,” McCarthy shares.

      Following the festival tour for She's the He included stops in Seattle and San Francisco, as well as international events like FICValdivia in Chile and BFI London.

      “Our little trans comedy making its way around the globe is astonishing, serving as a powerful reminder that trans individuals exist everywhere,” says McCarthy.

      However, with the daunting challenge of securing distribution for nearly all films, compounded by the “aggressively oppositional” nature of American politics toward trans identity, the film encountered hurdles in finding distribution channels. Fortunately, Obscured