VH1 Green-lights Trans Docuseries TransAmerica

Earlier today, VH1 announced that it has greenlit TransAmerica, a new series from Tyra Banks and Gay Rosenthal (Push Girls; Behind the Music; Little People, Big World), following the lives of five transgender women in Chicago, focusing on their dating, family, and professional ambitions.

"TransAmerica is a groundbreaking docuseries that will blow the roof off stereotypes and set the record straight as we experience the lives of these fun, stunning women," Banks said in a press release. "I am so happy to be a part of telling their fierce story."

"It would be easy to focus on the transgender aspect, but this series is about so much more," VH1 executive vice president of programming Susan Levison added. "This is a show about a group of compelling, gorgeous young friends who are on a unique journey while staying true to their authentic selves. We believe that message resonates."

The show will feature supermodel Carmen Carrera in the role of a "den mother/role model" to the show's ensemble cast, which includes Giselle, a trans woman preparing for upcoming gender-confirming surgery, and "set on finding her perfect man;" a Dior beauty consultant named Natalia; "ultimate party girl" Sidney; and Victory, a woman with dreams of becoming a doctor.

Last September, Doron Ofir Casting put out a call, seeking "dynamic and fashionable" trans women, looking to "redefine sex in the city with a transgender twist." Doron Ofir Casting has provided services to RuPaul's Drag Race, A-List, and Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys. The eight-episode, 60-minute series is scheduled to premiere late this year or early 2015.