LazRael Lison, an Arkansas native, and filmmaker, is screening his latest film, Christmas Angel, in Little Rock this Saturday, November 11th at the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts at 6:30. The screening is being presented by the Arkansas Museum of Fine Arts and the Arkansas Cinema Society. The film is about a troubled R&B megastar and will also be streaming on BET+ during the holiday season. The movie tells a human story set during Christmas and explores the fascination people have with celebrities. It is Lison’s third production with BET and Paramount.
“This film is about the fascinations everyone has when it comes down to celebrity, the idea that it would be cool to be Lady Gaga for a day, that’s the fascination the public has and I think this film opens the curtain a little bit,” said Lison.
He described it as a human story set during the time of Christmas.
Bringing the film back to Arkansas is exciting for Lison as grew up in Dumas and Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Arkansas is home, there’s nothing like being at home, no matter how long you’ve been away it’s still home, and honestly now that I’m grown I get to go back and appreciate it more,” said Lison.
It was in his home state where a passion for writing began to grow, from there, he went to Williams Baptist College in Walnut Rice where he honed his craft in writing before playing football at the University of Arkansas for the Razorbacks. Following his time in Fayetteville, he moved to Los Angeles, CA, taking a risk at the young age of 21 to try and find a path into the entertainment business. Being creative was always something Lison had a passion for throughout his life, whether it was writing poetry, music, short plays, or screenplays, writing was always Lison’s outing and he was determined to make a career out of it.
“In entertainment, you have to have a bit of an ego, you have to have pride, you have to have all of those things that motivate you to keep going. What drove me was the fact of not wanting other people to be right. Those people saying you won’t make it,” Lison expressed.
Eventually, Lison said he outgrew music.
“I don’t think the music avenue ran within me that deep, it didn’t flow as deep as the writing did,” he added.
Lison had started writing a screenplay before he left Arkansas. When he made it to LA, he started a girl at the time he described as “rockish” and he made a short film about their differences called Kontrast.
“When I did that film I fell so in love behind that camera and I knew I didn’t want to do anything else. From then on film has been my primary love,” he said.
Some of Lison’s personal favorites are The Sawshank Redemption and Forest Gump. He added that he loves to watch films from directors like Martin Scorsese and Clint Eastwood as well.
Christmas Angel is Lison’s third production with BET and Paramount.
“It’s simply amazing to work with such phenomenal talent, I can’t speak enough about it,” he said.
Other works of Lison’s include A Miracle Before Christmas, #Unknown, and Never and Again.
