STORYHIVE Programs

How I Created an Auto-Biographical Local Series

Posted on January 20, 2025
Elli McDine
Elli McDine

Digital Content Creator


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Curtains drawn and doors locked, I stare into the mirror at my makeup covered face and body draped in a vintage dress wrinkled from being shoved into the deepest corner of my closet. After more than fifteen years of fighting gender dysphoria, the levy was breaking. COVID lockdowns had given me the opportunity to finally explore my expression and feel my way through the early months of gender exploration. 

The first part of this process was understanding the story I was telling myself and being honest for the first time in my life. “I want to live my life as a woman,” I wrote in my journal, terrified and hopeful these words would yield immediate results like a whispered spell. 

That’s not how it works though. It’s a process that starts with listening to the story that voice deep inside you is telling you, passively muffled by shame and societal expectations. When you’re ready, the process shifts to sharing this story with people in your world, every nervous admission met with grace and curiosity giving you the courage to keep sharing.

Shame thrives in the darkness and dies in the light but you have to drag it out, one step at a time. Sharing stories was the tangible way I did that. I wrote and told stories on stage and online, each experience reminding me that this shift toward a more authentic life was real and that while living this way felt scary, it also made space for deeper connections with myself and others. 

Coming Home, our docu-series supported by the TELUS STORYHIVE Voices program, was the culmination of this slow process of self-acceptance and discovery. My co-creator Sylvia Douglas and I set out to tell a story about queer and trans joy told through the lens of my gender transition. It is narratively centred on me but we expanded the scope to include stories of other queer and trans people, recognizing that our experiences are unique. Our hope was that other queer and trans people would see themselves in parts of the docu-series and that our message of authenticity and following your joy would resonate beyond queer and trans circles.

The process wasn’t easy. It was my first time making a documentary series which activated my “what makes you think you can do this?” imposter syndrome regularly. Thankfully, Sylvia had experience with filmmaking and was able to shepherd me through the process. It was also challenging for personal reasons. I had told vignettes of my transition story in different ways but never at this scale. At various times throughout this process, I felt terrified and exhausted but also proud and creatively fulfilled. I experienced burnout and moments of deep anxiety culminating in a panic attack that made me realize the emotional weight I had been carrying throughout my gender transition, brought to a head through the pressure of this project. It wasn’t always pleasant but it did help me process in ways that I'm deeply thankful for. 

Watch episode 1 of Coming Home to learn more about the beginning of my journey.


It also made me reflect on the power of stories in making sense of personal transformation and how they can act as beacons of connection with others. It is through story that I was able to get through the muck of my own insecurities and shame, toward a life that feels like mine. On the other side of this project, I feel more secure, self-confident and energized to keep telling my story. I believe sharing our stories in all their complexity and difficulties is a powerful, deeply human thing. It’s what animates my life now, giving me a sense of purpose and joy. 

I also know this process isn’t easy so if you’re taking on a project that is personal or autobiographical in nature, here are some tips that might help you along the way. 

Elli Headshot Full

Understand why you are telling this story

There could be more than one reason! In my case, I knew I wanted to invite people into the experience of queer and trans joy in all its complexity. Early on in the process, I also noted that my personal reason for doing this was to help certain people in my life learn more about me. Making this explicit helped me as I worked through the process, recognizing what I wanted to share and how to best get the message across.

It also helps you recognize when you might want to be selective about sharing certain details or where you focus the story. If you keep in mind why you’re telling this story, it will act as a filter, keeping out the unnecessary information while ensuring the critical pieces are included. This is tied into my second piece of advice.

Remember your audience 

After you’ve determined why you are telling this story, be clear about who you hope will engage with it. In our case, we knew we had two audiences in mind: First, other queer and trans people, particularly young folks who might be struggling and could benefit from seeing examples of queer and trans joy represented on screen. Second, folks who are not queer or trans themselves but are curious and open to learning more about this experience whether it’s to support a family member, friend or colleague who just came out or someone who is interested in being an ally to the community. 

Knowing who we were directing our docu-series at helped us determine a lot of important things like what topics we wanted to explore, what specific language we wanted to use and how we wanted it to look and feel.

Coming Home Dinner Discussions

Be present throughout the process and make space for your feelings

When I first started my project, I wasn’t prepared for how emotional the experience might be. I was still very much in the middle of processing my gender transition and the wake this major change was making across the rest of my work, social and family life. Twelve months is a long time and your perspective can change really quickly. Making space to reflect on how you’re feeling through things like journaling, therapy and engaging other forms of community support was critical. I’m happy with how our docu-series turned out but I'm also proud of the way I navigated this period of major change. I think the experience of turning my story into art forced me to look at things that might have been too challenging to explore if not for the excuse of making this series. For example, in one week, I filmed an episode about the joy of expression, a long discussion with my parents about my childhood and why I was in the closet so long and told a 20-minute story about the dysphoria I felt as a teenager. By the end of the week, I was emotionally wrung out and needed a few months just to process my experience. It pushed me to work through a lot of feelings about my gender transition, which I'm thankful for, but it also required me to be intentional with making space for rest, reflection and recovery.

cast and crew

Collaborate with trusted people

My last piece of advice is to embrace collaboration. It’s hard to make something autobiographical! It’s not always easy to be objective as you make dozens of decisions regarding a story about your own life. Having trusted, competent people in your circle to act as a sounding board and to help guide the production in a supportive way. Depending on the level of trust. In my case, my collaborator was my best friend. It's also helpful in terms of this person being able to offer emotional support as you navigate turning your personal story into art.

The experience of bringing my story to life was one of the most rewarding things I've ever done. It was challenging throughout but through the creative process, I was able to truly “own” my story and this major transformation in a new way. I’m also happy to have this marker of this moment in time in all its joy and complexity. Someday, my kids will discover Coming Home and gain a better understanding of their family and how their mom found herself. In the meantime, there is a lot of joy in meeting other queer and trans adults and youth about how my story helped them on their own journeys. It’s a gift to be alive and to be able to share our stories with one another. I’m thankful for the opportunity.