Filmmaker Beck Williams goes 10 rounds with transition and relationships in boxing short “Pace”

By: Valerie Milano

Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 10/11/2024 – We all tend to have goals in life, and we spend a better part of our lives working towards those goals. We may make sacrifices along the way, navigating our way through ethical challenges and emotional roadblocks that influence our decisions.

So, what if you are faced with a choice that gives you what you have been working towards your whole life, but it may cost you much that you have built along the way? Would you still choose to follow your dream if it meant losing someone you loved?

This is the quandary facing Remy, a transmasculine boxer who is the lead character in “Pace,” a short film from writer/director Beck Williams. Struggling with body dysphoria and wrestling with the decision to transition at the potential cost of their marriage, Remy meets a shy trans boxer Joey, who is returning to the gym post-transition and fears being judged or ostracized by their former boxing community.

The pair team up to train together, finding camaraderie and the support they both need to face the challenges they each have been avoiding. As Remy’s relationship with their wife reaches a boiling point, Joey reminds Remy that their journey is a process and, “it’s okay not to have all the answers yet”.

“Pace” does an amazing job of shining a light on the daily struggles trans people face as they make choices before, during, and after their transition. In an exclusive interview this week with The Hollywood Times, Williams explained that the boxing setting is a natural metaphor for their story.

Click below to see our exclusive interview:

“Boxing is such a physical representation of, I guess you could say struggle, but it’s not always a struggle. Sometimes it’s just a fight forward. I think at the same time, it’s sort of the reason I loved incorporating boxing (into the story), other than the fact that I’m a martial arts nerd and I love to box.”

Williams, who is also the film’s executive producer, further stated that the story in “Pace” definitely mirrors their own life.

“It is a bit autobiographical.  I definitely relate to Remy in that I did transition in a marriage, and it was difficult for both of us. But you know we’re soul mates. But I think the point is that you can absolutely have love, but you can still go through something very difficult like that, and neither partner is right or wrong.”

Bex Taylor-Klaus, who plays Joey in the film, meshes perfectly on screen with Williams. The chemistry between them is magical. Williams commented on this match, “Klaus is a wonderful actor and a good friend of mine. Alot of what Joey was going through is kind of an amplified version of things that Bex has gone through. So, I kind of based the character off of things we talked about that they were comfortable putting into the character.”