Directorial Debut for ‘Chicago PD’ Veteran Patricia Frontain Premieres on Lifetime This Friday

The premiere is here for a cornerstone of the Chicago production community. Patricia Frontain, who has served as Script Supervisor for more than 200 episodes of the popular NBC series Chicago PD, is set to premiere her feature film directorial debut, the Lifetime movie Twisted Sister, starring American Beauty great Mena Suvari, this Friday.

Twisted Sister is going to debut on Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. Central and will begin streaming live the next day, Saturday, March 25th, on the Lifetime website. Click here to visit the Lifetime website starting this Saturday.

The plot follows Emily, who aspires to have the perfect life, complete with a daughter, a thriving PR agency, a family legacy, and a happy marriage to Kyle. But everything falls apart when Lily appears, claiming to be her half-sister and wreaking havoc on her life.

Behind the Scenes with Patricia

Director Patricia Frontain completed production last November. Managing about 30 crew, she worked an “incredibly intense” 12-day schedule in Los Angeles to shoot the 101-page script, her first feature. Although the project required Frontain to spend five episodes away from her regular position as script supervisor for Chicago PD, she took a lot of hometown experience with her. 

“I could hear a million directors and crew members whose quotes I had been writing down for years,” Frontain recalls. “Ten seasons on Chicago PD hearing these great experts in their field, down to the UPM saying every 5 minutes lots to chatting in every scene means by the end of the day we will have lost an entire hour of shooting.”

Click here for all of Patricia’s exclusive chat with SCREEN’s Dan Patton as she wrapped production.

Here are some exclusive behind-the-scenes photos from filming, courtesy of Patricia and the production team:

As for what attracted Frontain to this particular project, “The biggest thing that drew me to the script was the theme of universal grief, especially the grief of the poor sister who was not raised in the family,” Frontain recalls. “I can relate to that because it happened to my brother. When he was 50, he found out that he had a 27-year-old son he never knew about. They are now extremely close and have made up for lost time. It is bittersweet.”

Mark your calendars! As mentioned earlier, Twisted Sister premieres this Friday, March 24, at 7 p.m. Central and will begin streaming live the next day, Saturday, March 25th, on the Lifetime website. Click here to visit the Lifetime website starting this Saturday.

Congratulations to Patricia, and check back here at SCREEN for the latest on what’s next for her in the director’s chair. You can also click right here to subscribe to our weekly email newsletter.