Q&A with director Silas Howard and screenwriter Daniel Pearle of A KID LIKE JAKE. Moderated by Judy Dry, IndieWire.
Brooklyn parents Alex (Claire Danes) and Greg (Jim Parsons) are lucky to have a kid like Jake. Their four-year-old is bright, precocious, creative—and just happens to prefer Disney princesses to toy cars and skirts to jeans. Jake’s « gender expansive » behavior—as local preschool director Judy (Octavia Spencer) dubs it—is no big deal to Alex and Greg. Or so it seems, until the process of navigating New York City’s hyper-competitive private school system opens up a parental quagmire: could Jake’s gender nonconformity be just the thing that gives their child an edge in the admissions game? At what age is it appropriate to put a label on a child’s identity? Is this just a phase and what are parents’ roles in their child’s process of self-discovery? Split in their opinions on how to handle the situation, Alex and Greg find themselves navigating an emotional and ethical minefield with one patch of common ground between them: their fierce desire to do what’s right for Jake. Transparent director Silas Howard helms this timely, honest, emotionally rich look at 21st-century parenting.
Watch the trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxJxiYHbCzo