Teamie Spotlight Pride Edition: Al Ross
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi! My name is Al, and my pronouns are they/them. I grew up in the Comox Valley on Vancouver Island which really fueled my love of telling stories about the strange circumstances of small town living. I try to put a little bit of that essential quirk into everything I write. I currently have a very old, almost completely blind and toothless cat named Dutch who needs her eyeballs lubricated once a day.
When did you start at Kickstart and what is your role?
I started at Kickstart in 2009, a couple months after graduating from the screenwriting program at Vancouver Film School. I started off as a PA and front desk receptionist, and over the past 12(?!) years (with a recent 2-year break to focus on writing) I’ve worked in most stages of production from Coordinator to Associate Producer. I’ve also written for KS projects, worked in Creative & Business Development, handled IT for a while there, and I built this website!
How do you identify within the LGBTQIA2S+ community?
I am a bisexual non-binary transmasc person.
Are you comfortable with telling us about your journey regarding your identity? If so, was there a particular moment in your life when you started to feel comfortable with your identity? Are you comfortable sharing with us when you realized what identity you were comfortable with. Was there something that happened that triggered this realization?
I think it’s really interesting that even through I didn’t really identify as queer or trans until my late 20’s, when I look back at my youth I can definitely see the seeds there. Cultural and social pressure are much bigger forces than we realize, especially the way that they cause us to internalize and lock away parts of ourselves for safe-keeping. I never really had one singular “aha!” moment, just lots of little ones that added up. I know that I spent a lot of time staring at my reflection in the bus on the way home from work in my 20’s, frustrated but not certain how to articulate my conflict. Also a huge part of coming to understand my own gender was having a close trans friend that I could talk to about it.
Growing up, did you find a lot of LGBTQIA2S+ representation in the media? Did you find this more positive or negative?
In the 90’s and early 2000’s the main reflections of LGBTQIA2S+ people on television that I saw were shows like Will & Grace and Ellen, and I didn’t see myself in those. As a queer kid, adult shows about gay life are really hard to relate to because they’re focused on things that you don’t have access to or potentially even interest in. Also, a lot of representation from that period is firmly planted in a desire to represent heternormative family structures and ideals which is not my experience of queer community. I wish I had access to shows that told me it was okay to be uncertain; to be figuring things out. Additionally, It’s only in the past decade that we’ve started to see trans people on television who are more than a victim or the butt of a joke. The first decent trans representation I ever saw was the third episode of Veronica Mars, which I saw when I was in my final year of high school and it just sort of lived in the back of my mind for years.
What advice do you have for people who are struggling with their identity?
I think a lot of media can make queer identity look like an old-school aptitude test: here’s what you are, go be that. I think it’s more like a career fair: go check out all the different booths and see what resonates with you. You don’t have to have all the answers. What you experience may be completely different from someone else who identifies with the same terms. Words and labels are just descriptors, ways that you translate your experience to the world - take what works and leave the rest.
What does Pride mean to you?
I would love to tell you that Pride is a celebration of everything we’ve fought for, and the freedom to exist as our genuine selves, but there doesn’t feel like much to celebrate this year. 37 American states are currently attempting or have very recently attempted to pass legislation that will negatively affect trans people, which will have an increased impact on BIPOC women and children. The root and the history of Pride is political action, and while it is often framed as a fight for progress, from a trans perspective, this year we are simply fighting not to slide backwards.
Tell us about your personal projects.
I’m slowly working on a series pitch based on my 2020 mothman novella To The Flame, but my big thing right now is my podcast Ad Creeps. It’s a weekly half-hour podcast where my close friend and I take turns telling each other stories about different television commercials - some iconic, some obscure. It’s a mixture of pop culture, political commentary and history, and I love that we get to process all of that stuff from a queer perspective while still joking around and having a lot of fun. One of the most exciting parts, for me, was that we were able to commission artists we love to create our logo and theme song -- check out @confettikai and @skatunenetwork on Twitter!
What sparked the idea for this project?
When we wrapped our last podcast (after five long years!) we both wanted to do something that was a little more bite-sized and would allow us to surprise each other and tell non-fiction stories. We both have a conflicted relationship with nostalgia, but watched a LOT of television as kids, so we knew that TV commercials were a place where we could meet and really dig in. We also both have a deep love for local low-budget commercials and it’s so fun to shout one out each episode.
What’s your idea of a perfect sunday?
A big sleep in, then a french press full of coffee and a little bit of TV or a podcast before I dive into creative work. I love spending a lazy Sunday developing a story or concept and just letting my mind run free with some tunes in the background, but if I’m not doing any “work” work, you’ll probably find me weaving or digitizing some found 35mm slides.
Do you have a website or social media to showcase your artwork?
Yes! You can find my website at www.ae-ross.com and I’m on Twitter @aeeeross. You can also find Ad Creeps @adcreeps on Twitter and Instagram, and on the web at www.adcreeps.gay.