Phoebe Danaher

Charlie Blood

Charlie Blood is an eight-hour historical drama. It follows the titular character, a transgender brothel owner, as he navigates the complex vice industry of 1901 Chicago. The series is an act of speculative transgender history. Most of the trans people we know from the past only gained notoriety because they were publicly outed and humiliated. How can we imagine a historical trans life without that violence and trauma? Moreover, how can we imagine a TV show about transgender people that does not perform trans suffering for a cis audience? Charlie Blood attempts to answer that question. The Charlie Blood IP portfolio includes a series bible or pitch deck, a pilot script, and a script for a three-scene presentation package or sizzle reel. They work to create a strong conceptual basis for the show in preparation for eventually shooting a real presentation package and finally, the TV show. The work draws on research from my Art History honors thesis, “Gentlemanly Con Men and Thieves: The Image of the Male Criminal in Turn-of-the-Century Chicago.”