Video Interview: @ThisFunktional talks with RAISE YOUR HAND’s Actress talks about her tough role that helped her mature (86 of 365)

Jesus Figueroa, ​⁠​⁠@Thisfunktional of ThisFunktional.com, talks with actress Jearnest Corchado about her role in RAISE YOUR HAND, now available on VOD and DVD. RAISE YOUR HAND follows best friends Gia (Jearnest Corchado -- Can You Feel the Beat: the Lisa Lisa Story, Sneakerheads, Little America, The Fosters, The Blacklist) and Lila (Hanani Taylor -- Criminal Minds, Punky Brewster) as they balance school and personal connections with their family, friends, boys and neighborhood, including the corrupt local police. Gia struggles to maintain her grades and sort through a tumultuous relationship with her mother and stepfather. She attempts to find solace in a relationship with a new boyfriend, Wish, while investing in her writing. Very quickly, however, all of Gia’s relationships go through dramatic, sometimes traumatic, changes, and Gia and Lila find themselves in their own separate fights for both meaning and survival, in a film that is a testament to their perseverance and the power of story. Written and directed by Jessica Rae, RAISE YOUR HAND was produced by Evan Allen-Gessesse, Chanda Dancy, and Eileen Kennedy. Adam Dick and Margarita Reyes served as executive producers. The original score was composed by Academy Award short-listed composer Chanda Dancy (Blink Twice, Devotion). The featured cast includes Jearnest Corchado ('Gia’), Hanani Taylor (‘Lila’), Jess Nurse (‘Ms. Ramsey’), Joel Steingold (‘Amaris’), Gracie Marie Bradley (‘Lyric’), Janet Craig (‘Principal Reynolds’), Gregory Scott Cummins (‘Officer McCance’), Isabella Day (‘Young Gia’), Donat (‘Wish/Shawn Turner’), and Fenix Lazzaroni (‘Leticia/Gia's Mom’).