Danni XY Kalifornia is the story of a transgender person's life from school bullying to prison rape to a life in porn and her death at age twenty five.

SYNOPSIS:

THREE MINUTE TEASER SEQUENCE

EXT. FOREST-DAY

Moving through a densely wooded area full of life, birds squawk in tree tops, squirrels hop from branches to limbs, rabbits dart over tree trunks and through brambles.

DANNY (V.O.) Is it nature or is it nurture?

Still moving we emerge from the woods into an open field of tall grass. In the distance a fawn nurses from its doe.

DANNY (V.O.) Are we truly a product of our environment?

As we move closer the doe is startled and shoots for the woods in long bounds through the tall grass, its fawn follows right behind.

DANNY (V.O.) Or is it a combination of our genetic make-up with our environment?

Moving through the field in the distance we see a building. We can’t yet make out what it is.

DANNY (V.O.) And how does gender factor into the outcome? With the first ultra sound a preconceived notion of what will be is already set in place, but a person’s gender is a complex interrelationship of dimensions.

Moving closer we see the facility is surrounded by a chain link fence with razor wire on top.

DANNY (V.O.) first is our body and the experience of it against how society genders bodies, and how others interact with us based on our body.

Closer still we see the facility is actually a prison standing alone in this open field.

DANNY (V.O.) next is the mind and our deeply held internal sense of self, as male, female, or blend of both, or neither; who we internally know ourselves to be.

We stop outside the fence overlooking the exercise yard.

DANNY (V.O.) and finally there is the presentation. How we express our gender to the world and how society, culture, community, and family perceive it, interact with it, and try to shape it.

EXT. PRISON EXERCISE YARD-DAY

This could be a scene from Prison Break. The convicts mingle in groups. The yard is segregated by skin color but not exclusively. Black, white, brown, you name it, it’s scary and it’s milling around the yard.

DANNY (V.O.) each of these dimensions can vary across a range of possibilities. A person’s comfort in their gender is directly related to the degree to which these dimensions feel in harmony.

INT. PRISON BLOCK-NIGHT

This is a typical cell block at lights out almost quiet enough to hear a pin drop but for a very faint muffled sound.

We move up the metal grated stairs toward the sounds point of origin as we move closer we make out the sound of flesh slapping flesh.

INT. CELL-NIGHT

A WHITE BOY is face down on the bottom bunk, he has a sock in his mouth, his arms pinned behind his back this is DANNY but we don’t know it yet. A DARK HAIRED MAN with chest tattoos drives his hips into the white boys ass fucking him hard. Tears run down the White Boy’s effeminate face.

FOCUS ON WHITE BOY’S

piercing blue eyes, the kind that sparkle and make you do a double take, except for right now. Right now that sparkle is nowhere to be found. His blue eyes are drained and vacant.

MOVING INTO WHITE BOY’S PUPIL

FADE TO BLACK.

Danny Peterson's life is full of torment and confusion. At Danny’s tenth birthday party he is nearly drown by Billy Beirmann in the neighbor’s swimming pool. At Home Danny’s father, John, a town police officer, pushes his son to act like a man. Danny’s only real friend is Kimberly Evans a girl of mixed race who accepts Danny the way he is. Moving through Danny’s adolescences his struggles only worsen as Billy becomes more aggressive toward Danny. Billy’s own struggles with his closeted homosexuality come into play when he rapes Danny in an abandoned hay barn at age thirteen threatening his life if he is ever to tell anyone.

Danny’s life in High School grows into a deeper state of confusion as he is uncertain how to interact with his peers. Kimberly remains a faithful friend and protector to Danny but even that becomes a problem as Tommy, Billy’s friend and football teammate, who has a crush on Kimberly, confronts Danny in the hallway before class as the situation escalates Billy and Kimberly’s face off. Kimberly’s fast tongue and sharp wit humiliates Billy and takes his frustration out on Danny resulting in black eye.

At home, Sara, Danny’s mother consoles her son with the trials of growing up but Danny knows he is somehow different. John is upset by Danny black eye and takes matters into his own hands by showing up at Ned Beirmann’s hardware store to have words with Billy. John threatens to have Billy thrown in jail if he touches Danny again. Ned tells John his son is a sissy and everyone in town knows it. Back at home John and Sara discuss what happened and argue about Danny sexuality as Danny listens from his bedroom.

The next day Danny and Kimberly walk the old hay trail and discuss what he overheard, he tells Kimberly his mother thinks he is gay. In an emotional and tender moment at the abandon hay barn Kimberly and Danny make love. Returning home on an emotional high Danny finds the house empty. In a moment of inner exploration Danny puts on one of his mother’s dresses and caresses himself before her full length mirror when he is discovered by his father.

Several days later Billy shows up at the Shake Shack where Danny works. Danny tries to avoid him but he is sent out front by the owner to help serve customers. Billy berates and belittles Danny in front of the crowd. Later that evening as Danny is emptying trash he is accosted by an enraged Billy who forces Danny to fellate him. Danny fights back punching Billy in the groin.

The next day at school Billy confronts Danny at his locker. Danny responds with his father's a snub nose .38 in his hand. Billy looms with rage as Danny wavers with the gun in his trembling hand. A teacher squawks, Danny is distracted, Billy rushes Danny, the gun goes off.

In an effort to de-escalate matters John visits Billy in the hospital. There Ned threatens to press criminal charges. Danny and Kimberly make love one final time. The next day Danny is sentenced to three years in Greenville prison. John contacts Greg Mazlik, a prison guard at Greenville, and asks him to watch over Danny.

DANNI XY KALIFORNIA PILOT