The romantic thriller No Ordinary Love debuts Tuesday streaming on video on demand and digital platforms, and there's a Texas connection to the indie movie USA Today included in its biggest movies of the summer.
Writer and director Chyna Robinson was born and raised in Fort Worth and still lives here. She tells NBC5 she's a born storyteller and even as a little girl, dreamed of sharing her stories with others.
Her plot for No Ordinaary Love comes from conversations she had with a friend who served on the board of the nonprofit Safe Haven of Tarrant County. As they talked about producing a public service announcement to raise more awareness of domestic violence, Robinson could see a story emerging. And survivors through Safe Haven of Tarrant County.
Get top local stories in DFW delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC DFW's News Headlines newsletter.
"I was able to speak with over 20 survivors of different types of abuse. I was able to visit shelters and speak with the counselors and the intake workers, the hotline workers. I sat in on a domestic violence homicide trial with the assistant d.a. And I sat in on court-mandated sessions with offenders," she said.
Robinson says she spent years trying to get people to believe in her work and says women and women of color face many challenges in the film industry.
1091 Pictures contacted Robinson after seeing the award-winning feature at the American Black Film Festival.
"I cannot tell you how thrilling it is to be on the cusp of sharing my feature debut with the world. It's what filmmaker dreams are made of. The festival circuit gave us a great start toward our goal, but viewers are limited to a certain time frame. With our upcoming release, audiences can purchase the film to watch on any day, at any time," Robinson said in a news release
