Private Project

The Her-O

A woman is met with a decision to save her life and the lives of others or risk going to jail. Is she a pariah or a Her-O?

  • C. Shawn
    Director
    Zoe & Chloe, Good morning Antioch, Protocol: New Orleans
  • Randal Gonzalez
    Writer
    Writing Debut
  • Randal Gonzalez
    Producer
    Producing debut
  • Kerry Kelly Gridley
    Key Cast
    "Mary Wilson"
    Finality, Purgatory Road
  • Randal Gonzalez
    Key Cast
    "Roy Bronson"
    NCIS: New Orleans, Green Book, Love by Chance, The Dunning Man, Protocol: New Orleans
  • Mark Terry
    Key Cast
    Live Evil, Sticky Notes, Protocol: New Orleans
  • Henry Frost
    Key Cast
    Deepwater Horizon, Free State of Jones, Roots
  • Michael A. Hoffman
    Editing
    Girls Gone Dead, Scary Tales, R.O.T
  • Kenneth Franklin
    Director of Photography
    House of Pride, Demi Gods, Where I Stand, A Hat is not Enough
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Action, Drama, Thriller, Women in film
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 30 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    May 1, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • The Valley Film Festival
    Los Angeles
    United States
    October 27, 2017
    US Premier
  • The Los Angeles Cinefest
    Los Angeles
Director Biography - C. Shawn

Director Cherrae Stuart who works under the name C. Shawn, graduated from the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees in Filmmaking and Theater with a major focus on
performance. There she took several directing courses from renowned theater directors Joan
Darling and David Hammond. Cherrae began her career in entertainment with WBTV a local
Warner Brothers Affiliate Station, working on commercials, before transferring to a FOX
Affiliate in Los Angeles.
There, Cherrae founded the production company Mmm...Pie Productions in 2010, through
which she produced and wrote the successful webseries Zoe & Chloe: Private Detectives.
Following the misadventures of Anthropology student Zoe Jones and Criminal Justice major
Chloe Holmes, as they try to run their own detective agency, solving crimes and never getting
paid. Cherrae took over the helm as director in the show's second and final season, winning
webseries festival recognition and gaining a cult following.
In 2012 Cherrae began to spilt her time between New Orleans, and Los Angeles, taking
advantage of the burgeoning film climate in the southeast. There she produced and Directed
the short horror film Alex & Me, a satire that explores the desensitizing effect of the saturation
of violence in entertainment, and is currently in post production.
In 2016 she began working on her new long term Project Good Morning Antioch. A science
fiction radio drama series. The show centers on the B.M.S.S. Antioch, a low level mining ship,
a cog in the wheel of the Bannerflex Corporation, a multidimentional multiuniversal
conglomerate who's evil lies in is unyielding bureaucracy, and corporate greed, taken to the
highest degree. The show's second season, premiering in the fall of 2017 will launch the series
as a live action show while simultaneously maintaining the Radio drama format the show is
built upon. Fan's can choose between watching the show or listening to the radio drama. It's a
comedy that begs the question what would Wal-Mart look like if they merged with Exxon,
absorbed Halliburton, and was left to its devices, conquering and employing the galaxy for
3000 years.
Also in 2016 Cherrae, was given the opportunity to direct herO, an action thriller, that delves
into themes of personal responsibility, and the impossible situation of following your moral
code when it is in direct conflict with the law. The film completed in Spring 2017 and is
currently in Festival submission phase.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

I consider myself a chemist/filmmaker. I find the narrative form can be shaped
combining elements of different genres to tell compelling stories in unexpected
ways. My first webseries Zoe & Chloe Private Detectives combined elements of
a standard police procedural with Nickelodeon style slapstick humor to create
fun show that had a bigger than expected pre-teen cult following.
I also wrote and directed Alex & Me, a horror slasher short (not yet released)
done in the style of a feel good situation comedy, complete with studio
audience laugh track. In the hope to explore the desensitizing effects of our
cultural saturation of violence.
In 2016 I was given an opportunity to direct the film herO, written and produced
by Randal Gonzales. This was a challenging departure from every project that
I've been involved with to this point, all of which I've had a major hand in
inception and concept. With herO I was given all the pieces that had been
previously gathered and asked to merge them with my vision and style. I was
fortunate enough that the script and the story was malleable enough that I could
take it in any number of directions. The film explores the themes of personal
responsibility in crisis, the shades of grey in the battles between morality, justice
and the law, and feminine roles of victimhood vs. self savior. The film uses
dreamlike camera movements and steel guitar music that hints at the classic
western showdown, in order to mimic the internal struggles between right,
wrong and the consequences of conviction.
The herO as it is conceptualized as a feature will also explore how personal
morality is shaped by familial ties, and how far a Mother will go for her Daughter,
and how far a Brother will go for a Brother. Taking our leads to a climax asking
the audience to choose allegiance where both sides fight on the side of flawed
self righteousness. The herO short film, as it is now, was originally a proof of
concept piece to further the Feature Film. However, we were so pleased with
the short as a finished product, exploring the circular destruction of blood for
blood mentality, personal responsibility and legal ramifications. And the use of
bold brilliant colors to underscore the harsh realities of living in a modern
American city filled with unmatched beauty, floating on a sea of violent crime.