Logline:
When she’s refused a position as pastor at her father’s church, a young, brilliant divinity school graduate reluctantly takes on a group of troubled teenagers and finds her true calling.
Synopsis:
Prior to divinity school, Valerie Johnson lived a charmed and sheltered life and dreamt of becoming a minister in her father’s church. On the day of her graduation, her dreams are shattered when her father states that he doesn’t believe women should have ministries so she will not be a minister in his church. Heartbroken, Valerie accepts an offer to be a mentor to troubled teenagers in her uncle’s youth ministry program. The four teenagers in the program come from different walks of life, but share similar stories of abuse and neglect. Valerie fears she won’t be able to have a lasting impact in their lives because she has nothing in common with them. With help from her co-mentor, who she slowly develops feelings for, she opens up and begins to understand and form close relationships with all of the teenagers.
Valerie’s faith in herself and God continues to be put to the test when she learns that two of her mentees are being charged for a malicious crime and face time in prison. Valerie now has to find a way to bring her teenagers together and help strengthen their trust in God during a difficult and confusing time in their lives. With chaos occurring in at every turn, Valerie must be able to use what she’s learned and face the most challenging task of her life.
Shandra McDonald is an award-winning screenwriter, director, and producer with more than 15 years in the television and film industry. She has received awards from the Director’s Guild of America, Atlanta Film Festival, IFP Film Festival, Hollywood Black Film Festival and the 48-hour Film Festival. She has produced content that aired on Showtime, Oxygen, TV One, CBS, BET, NBC, TLC, The Discovery Channel, The Fine Living Network and Turner Broadcast Station. Her film projects have also screened at international festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and Fespaco Film Festival in Ouagadougou, Africa. Currently, Ms. McDonald’s award-winning production company, Kiss the Limit Productions, Inc., is creating a documentary for non-profit organization Youth Spark and their early intervention model for girls at risk for human trafficking. She is proud to be an Assistant Film Professor at Clayton State University. She received her B.A. and M.F.A from Howard University.