Led by an award-winning queer and trans film team, The Trans Trucker Project is a short documentary film that follows Ashleigh, a 24-year-old trans woman truck driver as she traverses the American countryside en route to a one-of-a-kind LGBTQ+ trucker holiday party in Florida. 🎄🎅🏖

It is a critical time to uplift trans stories, but it's also harder than ever to get these projects made. But, queer and trans filmmakers have always turned to community to make and share their art. The full budget of the film is $80k and our goal is to fundraise a minimum of $20k in order to shoot this December.

Your support will ensure we can move forward with production and get this powerful film to audiences as soon as possible! Can't contribute financially? Sharing this fundraiser with your networks is deeply appreciated. You can follow us on Instagram here. 🎞🍿

⭐ ABOUT THE FILM ⭐

You might be surprised to learn that trans women make up as much as 3% of big-rig truckers in the U.S. (that is ~90,000 drivers!) Trucking is a dangerous industry, but the open road also provides a sense of freedom, power, and unexpected community for queer and trans people who struggle to find belonging elsewhere. 🛣🏳️‍🌈

Shot in intimate cinema vérité, Trans Trucker Project offers a unique, nuanced vision of working-class trans people who experience immense pride and joy in their unconventional work - dispelling the harmful myth that trans rights and working-class interests are at odds with one another. ✊💅

⭐ PROJECT TIMELINE ⭐

Development | Jan. 2024 - July 2025

Pre-Production | July - Nov. 2025

Production | Dec. 2025

Post-Production | Jan. 2026 - Spring 2026

Distribution & Impact | Spring 2026 & Beyond

We are aiming to complete the film by Spring 2026. Our distribution plans include premier domestic and international film festivals, free online availability on a major platform, and a community screening campaign designed to reach LGBTQ+ audiences in blue-collar industries!

⭐ DONATION REWARDS ⭐

We have a number of exciting perks for a range of donation levels! Be sure to select your desired reward when checking out. And please note some rewards are only available for select cities and while supplies last - you'll want to hit the gas to claim those!

$10 | Receive a "Special Thanks" credit and access to our exclusive newsletter

$25 | Get access to our Trans Trucker Spotify inspo playlist

$50 | Receive a postcard with an original illustration

$100 | Get a limited-edition Trans Trucker Project trucker hat*

$250 | Get an early-access screener link to the final film Also includes trucker hat* & bumper sticker*

$550 | Schedule a 1-hr long virtual consultation call with a film team member Also includes an early-access screener link, trucker hat* & bumper sticker*

$750 | Participate in a virtual test screening and feedback session! Also includes early-access screener link, trucker hat* & bumper sticker*

$1000 | Receive 2 tickets to local festival premiere* Also includes: virtual test screening and feedback session, advanced screening link, trucker hat* & bumper sticker*

*Only available while supplies last & in participating cities: Durham, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Pittsburgh, San Francisco.

Hats available in Black & White, Camo, and Blue & Pink

⭐ ADD'L DONATION INFO ⭐

Matching Donations

Many companies have matching gift programs and can help you double your donation to a project of your choosing. Sometimes these programs will match a donation up to a year after it was originally made! Check with your employer—if they have a matching gift program, they will provide you with instructions. 💰💰

Tax-Deductible Donations & Funder Credits

If you're interested in making a tax-deductible donation or learning about funder credits and terms for executive producers, please email producer Mars Verrone at mewverrone@gmail.com.

⭐ ABOUT THE TEAM ⭐

Hansen Bursic (Director & Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker, journalist, and film festival programmer based between Los Angeles, CA, and Pittsburgh, PA. He was recently named a DOC NYC Documentary New Leader. He was previously a Ford Foundation Rockwood Documentary Leadership Fellow, a Sundance Film Festival Press Fellow, and a Temple University 30 Under 30. His latest film, "Trans Heaven, Pennsylvania," was funded through the Creative Hope Initiative. The film has screened around the world, including Frameline and BFI Flare, and won Best Short Documentary at ReelQ: Pittsburgh's LGBTQ+ Film Festival. Beyond filmmaking, he currently serves as the Festival Director of the Backyard Docs Film Festival, the largest documentary film festival in Pennsylvania.

Mars Verrone (Producer) is an award-winning filmmaker from Los Angeles, CA, now based in Brooklyn, NY. As a first-time producer, Mars developed and produced Oscar-shortlisted feature documentary "Union," (dir. Stephen Maing, Brett Story), which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival and won a special jury prize for "The Art of Change." As producer, Mars received a Cinema Eye Honors Award for "Outstanding Achievement in Production." In 2022, Mars directed and produced award-winning short documentary "Golden Voice," which continues to be programmed at LGBTQ+ festivals and events across the globe. Mars is a Sundance Documentary Producers Fellow, NBC Original Voices Artist Mentor and Fellow, PGA Create Fellow, BGDM Sustainable Artist Fellow, Dear Producer Mentee, and was selected for DOC NYC'S 2024 "40 Under 40" cohort.

Carolina Caruso (Producer) is a Miami-based filmmaker and producer. As a producer, her feature film credits include "Temple in the Palms" (2024) and "Fallen Fruit" (2024), which have screened at Miami Film Festival, Frameline, and NY Latino Film Festival, winning the Audience Award for Best Feature at Outshine Film Festival. Most recently, she co-produced the short film "September, All Over" (2025), which premiered at Champs-Elysées Film Festival. In the commercial world, she has produced projects internationally for clients including Honda, HP, and Chase Bank.

Erick Stoll (Director of Photography) is a non-fiction filmmaker whose work has focused on labor, gentrification, and capitalism. Erick co-directed the feature documentary "América," which was nominated for Peabody and Independent Spirit awards, and was the cinematographer on the Academy Award-winning documentary "American Factory."

Sowjanya Kudva (Editor) is a Durham-based filmmaker, specializing in producing and editing across a variety of media. Their work has screened nationally and internationally at festivals, conferences, and major media outlets. In their current role as an assistant professor of Cinema & Television Arts at Elon University, Sowjanya focuses their scholarship on production studies, media literacy, and the convergence of cinema and tech, while continuing to make independent films with, and about, queer and trans people.

Ariel Loh (Composer) is a trans, Asian American producer, composer, and mixing/mastering engineer based in New York and Los Angeles. Their work has been featured on Billboard, Rolling Stone, BBC, NPR, Pitchfork, Vice, MTV, as well as major streaming services Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, and Apple TV Plus. In 2025, she became the first Asian American transgender woman to win a Grammy award.

Any questions or ideas for collaboration, partnership and support? Please email producer Mars Verrone at mewverrone@gmail.com.

SEE YOU ON THE ROAD! 🚚💨

Ashleigh with her truck!

The Trans Trucker Project

By Hansen Bursic Film

The Trans Trucker Project

A New Documentary Short from Hansen Bursic