A former Guam resident was on island in June, scouting locations and making moves for a feature film project that she will be starring in and directing. It was a homecoming reunion, twelve years in the making for Emmy-nominated Actress and filmmaker Rain Valdez and she was definitely excited to be back on island.

Valdez, along with fellow actress and filmmaker Rachel Leyco and president/producer of Fae Pictures Shant Joshi, spent almost two weeks here in June, presenting their trans-led Asian American rom-com feature project, "Re-Live: A Tale of an American Island Cheerleader." Valdez explains the how the idea came to be.

"Certain parts of the story are inspired by my life," Valdez explained. "The character did grow up on Guam and she left, which is something that I did. My mother after ten years of being gone was diagnosed with cancer and I flew back home immediately to help care for her. And I visited my old high school at the time, which is Simon Sanchez. And I thought wouldn't it have been amazing if I was able to go to high school as my true authentic self."

Valdez said she wrote the script in one day, recalling, "It wasn't hard to write it because I really pulled from my experiences on the island,experience being an actor in Los Angeles, as well as my experience with my family."

Along with taking meeting and making pitches, the trio ventured all over the island, scoping out potential shoot locations, experiencing the culture, sites and of course, the food.

Leyco commented, "I think it's really important for us to highlight the community. It's my first time here on Guam, so when we were writing the script, I was just going off of what Rain was telling me. Being here now, seeing the culture and the people, everyone is so welcoming and loving."

"Once we re-write the script, after this trip, it's gonna be a lot more richer, authentic, a lot more representative of the Chamorro culture, the Filipino-American diaspora, and the beauty," she added.

Originally, they were supposed to arrive in May, but COVID restrictions pushed back their plans to June, which was Pride Month, and they believe it worked out in their favor.

"It's really special for us because of who we are as a team and also the stories that we are telling which is highlighting the queer trans community...what surprised me the most the thriving LGBTQ community on the island, that was not a thing when I was here last. Guam Pride is only five years old and I never thought that would be possible. One of the reasons why I left not just because I wanted to act and be a filmmaker but I wanted to find community that would be accepting of who I am and to come back discover that they are here and they've always been here and they've figured out a way to exist and very visibly was a very emotional experience for me," she said.

They add that when they come back to start production, they want to prioritize local talent, crew, and producers. And have been working very closely with Myracle Mugol , Joey Certeza, the Muna Brothers, and also the Guam Visitors Bureau.

"We really can't wait to make this movie with our island. It's gonna be a lot of fun. I also want to say thank to everyone on the island who has been so welcoming, supportive, and its really inspiring to be surrounded by genuine, kind, loving humans," she said.