Tamara Trexler earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Union University in Jackson , Tennessee .  In 1997, the university in their magazine's cover story named her as Union University 's first recipient of the Outstanding Young Achiever award.   She holds a Master of Arts degree from the University of Memphis where she worked as a graduate assistant teaching speech to freshmen students.  Trexler has a political background, having worked for Vice President Al Gore when he served in Congress and for Tennessee 's Governor Ned McWherter as an advance person for his 1986 Gubernatorial Campaign.  She also worked as a special projects coordinator in his administration for several years. Trexler also taught public speaking and business presentation skills to MBA students in the Massey Graduate School of Business at Belmont University in Nashville .

Trexler changed directions in her life and began her theatrical career with husband/business partner, Wes Motley .  Traveling with a professional troupe of Nashville actors, Tennaissance Productions, Inc. performed original musical dramas onstage which portrayed historical characters in Tennessee and American history.  Nominated by Senator Fred Thompson, Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (then Tennessee’s Film Commissioner), and endorsed by Senator Bill Frist, Tennaissance showcased its musical on Rachel and Andrew Jackson, W.C. Handy and Ida B. Wells-Barnett at the Kennedy Center in October 1995.

Trexler made the natural transition into film as the co-producer and co-writer of a short feature on Rachel and Andrew Jackson entitled Dearest Heart.  She also was the associate producer of a feature film, Outlaw Prophet.  Trexler’s roots descend from an interesting background in movie history, her great grandfather was the famous Lloyd T. Binford, a successful entrepreneur who served as Chairman of the Memphis Board of Motion Picture Censors from 1928-55. Binford was founder of the largest insurance company in the South, Columbia Mutual Life.

Taking a short break in her career as a producer to recruit more films to Nashville in order to assist in making Nashville a viable production center, Trexler served as the Nashville Director of Film for a few years.  Under her direction, The Nashville Mayor’s Office of Film produced a production directory.  In February 2001, the directory was awarded First Place for the Production Guide in City/County/Region, competing against hundreds of other cities in 26 countries in the Association of Film Commissioner’s International Locations 2001 Global Tradeshow in Los Angeles .

Feisty personalities work well together, so Trexler and her good friend, Olympia Dukakis decided to work together on a Nashville based project called Charlie’s War.  Olympia agreed to star in the role of Charlotte as Trexler co-produced the movie.  Trexler recruited Vernon Winfrey (Oprah’s father) to portray the supporting role of Mr. Jackson in Charlie’s War.  Trexler and her husband, Wes Motley served as his acting coaches.

Charlie’s War producer, Christy Viviano appointed Trexler in charge of the Charlie’s War World Premiere.  The feature film and its premiere corporate sponsor, Cracker Barrel hosted the world premiere, May 2, at the 2003 Nashville Film Festival in conjunction with Regal Cinemas.  Executives from Regal Cinemas personally assisted Trexler and her team to make the seven sold out screen premiere successful.  Stars in attendance were Diane Ladd and Bobbie Eakes.  Special guests attending the premiere were:  Oprah Winfrey, Stedman Graham, Gayle King, editor of O Magazine, Natalie Cole and Bishop Kenneth Dupree.   National press such as O Magazine, People Magazine , US News, Associated Press, Indie Wire and Indie Way covered the event.

Vernon Winfrey and the Nashville Premiere of Charlie’s War were featured on Entertainment Tonight and The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Charlie's War continues to receive national press coverage under Trexler's direction.  The film was featured as the cover story in the September 2003 issue of Markee Magazine and in last spring's edition of Production Update Magazine.

Trexler just finished producing a feature film entitled Dear Mr. Cash.  This film was recently featured as the cover story in the April 2004 edition of the national filmmaker magazines, Production Update and the September 2004 Markee magazine . The film was a cover story in the February issue of Southern Exposure Magazine.

Trexler attended the prestigious Sundance Institute's 19th Annual Independent Producers Conference in Utah this summer.  She was a featured filmmaker in a recent article on filmmakers in the Nashville Tennessean called The Reel Deal this past spring and in last summer’s Nashville Scene cover story The Big Picture.

As Trexler continues her crusade educating people about the economic value of filmmaking in Tennessee , the Nashville Tennessean and the Memphis Commercial Appeal profiled Trexler in their respective newspapers this fall.

Trexler and Motley are currently in development on a feature film entitled Amazing Grace with Stuart Goodman of New York and Steven Peros (writer, Cat's Meow; The Gardener's Daughter) of Los Angeles .  Peros penned the story of Grace Gibbons, a 14-year-old girl from an Appalachian mountain town who uses music to discover not only her hidden talents, but also to piece together the broken marriage of her parents.  Olympia Dukakis stars as the grandmother in Amazing Grace.

photo by Rusty Russell