Former Executive Vice President of Tyler Perry Studios, Roger Bobb, who left the company earlier last year to start his own film production company called Bobcat Films, is making his feature film directorial debut with a project titled Raising Izzie – a film that's based on the grand-prize winning script of the 1st annual GMC Faith & Family Screenplay Competition last year, and that will premiere on the GMC (Gospel Music Channel) this July.
Although it'll debut this weekend at the 2012 American Black Film Festival, a month or so before its TV premiere on GMC.
Bobb, who also produced the work, and whose past credits include directing several episodes of Tyler Perry TV shows, directed from a script penned by David Martyn Conley, that centers on two orphaned sisters and a teacher who takes them under wing.
Here's a longer synopsis:
When their mother passes away leaving them without an adult guardian, Sisters Izzie (Kyla Kenedy) and Gertie Nash (Victoria Staley) are forced to grow up fast. Afraid her daughters will be separated if they are placed in the foster care system, their mother makes the necessary arrangements for Gertie and Izzie to live on their own, with a bank account, apartment and small on-line business to support themselves. Older sister Gertie takes care of her little sister in addition to working and attending school. For a year, the girls are able to hide their predicament from their neighbors, their landlord and even their teachers. But when Tonya Freeman (Vanessa Williams), Gertie's new teacher, becomes suspicious, the girls have to come up with a new plan to protect their secret. After Tonya confronts the girls and they confess to their situation, Tonya has to decide how to protect them and keep them together against the will of her husband Greg (Rockmond Dunbar).
Shot in Atlanta, the film's starring cast includes Vanessa Williams (of Soul Food fame, not the former Ms America), Rockmond Dunbar, Kyla Kenedy and Victoria Staley.
Vanessa Martinez will be covering the ABFF for S&A, so this may be a film she'll write about.
No trailer yet, but check out 2 behind-the-scenes clips featuring the starring cast and director, with a glimpse of what to expect:
