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A sitcom pilot written, produced, and directed by

Jan Schmidt with Arthur Rivers, Dave Hall and François Bernadi

After searching for ten years, a woman in her fifties finds the son she gave up for adoption thirty years before. She is white, liberal, lives in New York and is living with her husband, a Black man and his daughter and granddaughter. Her son turns out to be a blond, Republican, Midwesterner, married, with two children. As they get to know each other, style-wars erupt out of the two families in generational, ethnic and geographical differences as well as conflicting musical and political interests.  In short, she now has a very contemporary American family.  Each one, facing the others’ preconceptions, plays to and against the stereotypes, till they all find themselves in a place where the similarities have more power than the differences.

DEMO

NEW YORK CITY CAST

NEW YORK CITY CAST

DIANE SPODAREK            as MAUREEN TOUSSAINT, Irish American, liberal married to Rudell. An ex-hippie, Susan Sarandon type, she works for a non-profit arts organization, wears mostly black clothes, and listens to 60’s music and old Irish ballads.

CHUCK HOLLAND            as RUDELL TOUSSAINT, Husband of Maureen, an African American, raised in Harlem who works as a hairdresser.  A comedian , he a debonair man who spends most of his money on fine suits.  He listens to jazz and pop music.

OCTAVIA HARRELL        as ERIN TOUSSAINT, Rudell’s daughter, a thirty-year-old single-mom, going back to school to study web design.  Erin and her daughter live with Maureen and Rudell. She is outspoken in a humorous street manner with an edgy Bronx  style.

AVONNA RENEE               as AMALI TOUSSAINT, Erin’s daughter, Rudell’s granddaughter. She’s a fourteen-year-old know-it-all, who’s had a tough life that she thinks is ghetto-fabulous. She runs a web chat room for teens and is smart, articulate and likes rap music.

RATCAT                               A barely civil alley cat they adopted.

APARTMENT                      Located in the East Village the building is full of many strange and wonderful crazy neighbors, including Eak, the tattooed freak show star and two “chicken head” teen neighbors.

Starring Chuck Holland as Arthur, Diane Spodarek as me, and Octavia Harrell and Avonna Renee. Produced and Directed by François Bernadi, Arthur Rivers and Jan Schmidt. With Molly McBride and Juan Barerra.

RATCAT                               A barely civil alley cat they adopted.

APARTMENT                      Located in the East Village the building is full of many strange and wonderful crazy neighbors, including Eak, the tattooed freak show star and two “chicken head” teen neighbors.

Starring Chuck Holland as Arthur, Diane Spodarek as me, and Octavia Harrell and Avonna Renee. Produced and Directed by François Bernadi, Arthur Rivers and Jan Schmidt. With Molly McBride and Juan Barerra.