Rising Stars: Meet Hannah Miyamoto of Oceanside, CA

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hannah Miyamoto

Hi Hannah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Hannah, you’re an inspiring emerging filmmaker. What is this exciting new film project you are developing?

The day after the election, I realized how much European individuals and governments would be more concerned about Trump, and I started working on a movie to inspire Americans to support aid to Ukraine. In Ticket to Kyiv, a carefree young American woman gains a new appreciation on life when she gets caught up in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. I have only outlined the story, but prominent Ukrainian film producer Poli Ura Herman has already joined the project, along with my fellow MiraCosta College student Paul Chepura, who is, like Poli, an asylee from the Ukrainian War.
Unlike other war movies, Ticket to Kyiv focuses on the real consequences of war without glamor or glory. Most of the action will be in a hospital, where this young American woman joins nurses and doctors trying to save women, children, and elderly people struck by Russian missiles and bombs. Ticket will also dramatize the systematic torture,, rape and murder of women and girls by Russian soldiers in Ukraine, and other unspeakable acts of violence against innocent people. In the process, the film will relate the inspiring example of the Ukrainian people risking everything to defend their freedom.
As my late mother used to tell me, I was born in the Year of the Rabbit, a fortunate sign. Although I was unlucky to be born intersexed, I always try to turn obstacles into opportunities. One reason I think Ticket to Kyiv will succeed is that it will anger Vladimir Putin supporters, who have much more money and power than me.
The Ticket to Kyiv marketing plan could not be simpler: Enrage Putin, trigger Trump, and get Fox News to attack the film. Get Tucker Carlson, Russia Today, and Marjorie Taylor Greene to accuse me of wanting to start WWIII. One hate tweet from Trump will make the film a success. What better way to start my Hollywood career?

Speaking of disability, you’ve been one of the leading advocate for intersexed people for a quarter-century. How was your intersexed condition discovered and how has that affected your life?

The greatest challenge in my life occurred before I was born, when my mother was given diethylstilbestrol (DES), the most powerful synthetic estrogen ever prescribed to pregnant women. Consequently, I was born a boy, but developed like a woman. Despite developing the breasts, hips and voice of a woman, no one detected my condition until I had borrowed over $100,000 to become a lawyer. Despite passing the bar in 1992, I have never earned enough to support herself as a lawyer.
Once I realized that gender-based prejudice frustrated my path to becoming a lawyer, I decided to live as a woman, and devoted ten years to become a sociology professor specializing in gender. Although I did not achieve my goal, I wrote my first published play about gender while earning my Master’s degree in Women’s Studies: Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia is based on Shakespeare’s gender-based comedy Twelfth Night, featuring Elizabethan verse and dialog throughout.
I adapted Twelve Nights into a limited series for television in 2021; two years later, I adapted the first three screenplays I wrote for the series into a novel now available on Amazon, Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, and More. Twelve Nights is the first novel to show queer women in the 16th century. I have gathered my knowledge of gender in Shakespeare’s time over a decade while studying in graduate school.
In the process, I created an intersexed male character modeled after me named “Adriano,” to help explain why Shakespeare’s character Olivia is attracted to another girl. In my novel, Adriano is brutally assaulted just for looking different, the same thing that happened to me in grade school for years. If my story shocks people, that’s what I want: People need to realize how much cruelty our institutions inflict upon millions of intersexed people every year.

Besides developing Ticket to Kyiv, how are you advancing your filmmaking career?

Since September, I have been applying to MFA programs in producing and directing at film schools across Los Angeles; I am starting to get admission offers. I have just earned an Associates in Film at MiraCosta College, and next spring, I will earn a Certificate of Achievement in Video and Media Design from MiraCosta. MiraCosta has been a fantastic place for me to learn skills I will need as a producer, screenwriter, and director; I can hardly believe I will be starting my path to an MFA in film at the end of next summer.

Contact Info:
Portfolio: https://HannahMiyamoto.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hannah_PacificoStudios/
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@PacificoStudios

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Most importantly: Being intersexed. In my case, I was born a boy, but developed a female body growing up. As a result, my hopes of becoming a successful lawyer were destroyed or have a life like a normal man. As a result, I have been living as a woman since 1997.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
https://a.co/d/iaq9M9c (“Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, and More”, 2023) in paperback at Amazon.com

https://a.co/d/12jXyxL (“Twelve Nights with Viola & Olivia, and More”, 2023) on Kindle at Amazon.com

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
When I was diagnosed intersexed in 1996, I explained to my parents why I had to try making as dramatic a change as no longer living as a man. As I told them, “Anyone can have a ‘bad year.’ No one can have a bad decade.” Always be ready to consider whether you need to make a major change to get that “lucky break.”

Maybe luck matters in this world. But luck doesn’t come unless you are where you need to be to get that “lucky break.” Education and effort are critical to being at the right place and the right time. Fortunately, California invests in higher education and your opportunities for affordable education are all around your home, especially at your local community college.

Finally, remember that you will rise up with your colleagues. People go into the film business convinced that all they have to do is get their “incredible script” into the hands of the right actor, director, or producer. But now that digital filmmaking is so inexpensive and streaming video allows you to distribute material for little to no money, making friends with people as inexperienced and ambitious as you is more likely to lead to all of you being successful than impressing a successful stranger you manage to meet. And lastly, remember that many of the people selling “courses” or “script review” sessions and the like are simply trying to earn money by preying on hopeful people. It’s better to make your own content and hold the rights to it than to try to “break in” through a major studio.

Pricing:

• $9.99 paperback
• $2.99 Kindle

Contact Info:

• Website: https://HannahMiyamoto.com/
• Instagram: @Hannah_PacificoStudios
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannah.miyamoto/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@pacificostudios