“We totally home-schooled it, we made this feature film without having made a short or anything, because we’re like, we have the urgent need to tell this story, to have these different faces on the screen.”
At 28, Howard decided to team up with Harry Dodge again, but this time to write, direct and act in a film. He wanted to do a movie that puts the world he knows on big screens. By Hook or by Crook was exhibited in 2001, after a three year long struggle. Although the shooting phase only took three month, it was a lot of work to get the necessary funds since translating transgender issues on screen was considered a big risk. But it didn't stop them to go though with it.
Falling in love with visual storytelling and the power it has, Howard decided afterwards to get a MFA in directing in UCLA and graduated in 2008.
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.
