Private Project

An Extraordinary Life

Alonzo and Adrienne have breakfast and receive some wonderful news... or is it? Morning turns to night as the couple struggles to find language amidst a storm of emotions. When family is the highest value, dreams fight to stay alive.

  • Lisa Arrindell
    Director
  • Lisa Arrindell
    Writer
  • Lisa Arrindell
    Producer
  • Terri Montrel
    Producer
  • Lisa Arrindell
    Key Cast
    "Adrienne Herndon"
  • Biko Eisen-Martin
    Key Cast
    "Alonzo Herndon"
  • Toussaint Battiste
    Key Cast
    "Norris Herndon"
  • Terri Montrel
    Key Cast
    "Ms. Laney"
  • Tyrone Mitchell Henderson
    Key Cast
    "Norris 55 / Narrator"
  • Roman Rivera
    Director of Photography
  • Niiamar Felder
    Costume Designer
  • Loren Semmens
    Editor
  • Grant Cornish
    Supervising Sound Editor
  • Adam Deyoe
    Visual Effects Artist
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    15 minutes 53 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 31, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    12,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • International Black Theatre Festival Film Fest
    Winston Salem
    United States
    July 31, 2024
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Lisa Arrindell

Lisa Arrindell was born in the Bronx, New York, and brought straight home to Brooklyn. A graduate of The High School of Performing Arts—now The Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts—she went on to earn a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from The Juilliard School.

Lisa’s extensive acting career spans film, television, and stage. Her notable screen credits include A Lesson Before Dying, Disappearing Acts, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First Hundred Years, The Sin Seer, Livin' Large, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Random Acts of Flyness, Elementary, Madam Secretary, Saints & Sinners, The Quad, Notorious, Bull, and more. On stage, she has appeared in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Broadway), Jubilee (Seattle Opera), Reparations (The Billie Holiday Theatre), Richard III (NY Shakespeare Festival), Heliotrope Bouquet (Playwrights Horizons), and Earth and Sky (Second Stage), among others.

Her most recent projects include Albany Road, starring Lynn Whitfield, now available on Amazon Prime, as well as Watson on CBS and Favorite Son Christmas on BET. She is best known for her role as Vanessa in Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion and for her gripping performance in the Law & Order episode titled "Disabled." Lisa also serves as the resident acting coach for the hit Starz series P-Valley.

Beyond her acting career, Lisa is passionate about health and wholeness, inspiring and educating aspiring performing artists. She teaches theater students who are deeply curious about pursuing a career in the performing arts and is on staff at The Freeman Studio and The Billie Holiday Theatre's Youth Arts Academy in New York City. Most importantly, she is the joyful mother of two stunning, loving, highly creative, and intelligent human beings.

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Director Statement

The stories we see on screen, dictate what society believes to be TRUE. As adults who are arguably addicted to visual media, and consequently less literary, we unwittingly raise and educate children to read history and biography less. As our nation's Kindergarten through 12th grade history textbooks continue to dole out partial truths, or completely omit entire periods of United States history for our country's developing minds, it is fitting that what was formerly thought of as mere entertainment, has become the primary tool to reshape the collective consciousness of our nation and the globe.

What is seen is believed, even when it is not the truth. My desire then, as a storyteller, is to show what is true in a manner that will capture hearts and, thereby, minds. I submit that a captured mind is how slave trading, and all its enduring fruit, was able to thrive. Conversely, our minds, captured by true stories, will transform how we see ourselves. We have already lived the stories. The Herndons are just one example of Black fortitude and triumph.