Silas Howard

Silas Howard is an American director, scriptwriter and actor. He started as a guitar player in the punk queer band Tribe 8 and eventually pursued a career in cinema. Co-writing, directing and acting his first feature film By Hook or By Crook in 2001, with Harry Dodge, he fell in love with visual storytelling and went on to get a MFA in directing in UCLA. He has since then written and directed many projects. He began directing episodes during the second season of Transparent, making him the show's first trans director.

Howard grew up in southern Vermont. His working class parents were often considered “freaks” for always doing things differently, a term he uses with a positive connotation. Even though he lived in a small town, he had access to art and culture which made him aware of his queerness at a very young age and urged him to widen his horizons. So in the early 90's, wanting to find people he could connect to, he moved to San Francisco where an aunt of his was residing.

He arrived in San francisco in the early nineties, in the midst of the AIDS crisis. Still struggling with his questions of identity he didn't find his place in old-school gay bars but soon found his crowd with the queer punks.

He started a band with some friends of his called Tribe 8, an outspoken dyke punk band, that engaged with subjects such as S/M, nudity and transgender issues. He was their guitarist. For a decade they toured in the States, Canada and Europe. Howard loved traveling around and “finding queers everywhere”.

Back in San Francisco, he associated with Harry Dodge, a former band member and they opened a cafe called Red Dora’s Bearded Lady Café where artists could come in and expose their art. It was situated next to a gallery that a friend of his who was diagnosed AIDS and had a few years to live decided to open in order to curate shows aimed at a queer audience. Surrounded by art, punk music, drag and queerness, he was an active component in the representation of alternative movements and give a voice to people who were often considered the marge of society. He eventually moved from music to cinema, in order to continue to do so.

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