Back to directory

Bio

André Pérez is a media maker, impact producer, and community organizer with 15 years of experience. His practice centers collaborative storytelling with resilient communities. Andre's played an instrumental role in several non-profit start-ups including founding the Transgender Oral History Project (2007), co-founding Project Fierce Chicago (2012), and spearheading a communications and development plan that took Trans Lifeline from a budget of $100K to $1.1M in two years. As a community engagement specialist, André recorded 600+ interviews with StoryCorps including 50 segments on NPR and WBEZ. He worked with a team that forged partnerships with Black and Brown led organizations across Chicago and helped them leverage their stories to forward their missions. In 2016, he set off to make AMERICA IN TRANSITION (AIT), a Sundance-backed documentary series exploring love, family, and social justice with BIPOC trans folks. After appearing on NewCity’s 50 Influential Filmmakers in Chicago, he participated in Doc Society’s first-ever Queer Social Impact Producer’s Lab (2017). AIT's social impact campaign involved creating a speaker's bureau that focused on issues in the series (HIV criminalization, immigration, family acceptance, and civil rights). He worked with nationally-recognized trans leaders to network isolated trans people, centering BIPOC voices, and activating allies. They ultimately engaged 20,000 people through hosting 100 workshops, keynotes, and trainings in partnership with 85 organizations – from ivy league universities to Black arts festivals and LGBTQ+ churches. André creative produced, A RUN FOR MORE, a feature-length documentary about Frankie Gonzalez in her fight to become the first openly transgender elected official in Texas (which premiered at Frameline 2022). He’s also producing DESIRE LINES, a hybrid documentary interweaving the story of two gay trans men who travel through time as they attempt to unravel the mysteries of sex, identity, and community in an LGBT archive.