


Jennifer Pessima
Director & Producer

Sheila Michelle Foye
Creator & Executive Producer

About the Project
The Christmas Between is a cinematic love letter to grief, motherhood, and faith — a story where loss becomes legacy, pain births purpose, and Christmas becomes the day love comes home again.
On a snow-covered Christmas Eve, Maya Varner — a mother who’s spent years surviving loss — is pulled through moments that awaken every sense: laughter long gone, forgiveness rediscovered, and hope returning. Once a single mother of twin sons and later a blended family of four, Maya has survived divorce, heartbreak, and rebuilding her life from scratch. But nothing compares to the ache she carries now — the loss of her eldest twin, Malik, on Christmas Eve.
Though she’s created a life that looks whole — a career helping others heal, a warm home, and a loving fiancé, Nicholas — inside she’s still frozen in time. When a winter storm cuts the power, Maya is guided on a spiritual journey through her own past: walking through doorways that reveal younger versions of herself — the scared, the heartbroken, the hopeful. With every encounter, she offers compassion where shame once lived and forgiveness where silence once stood.
By dawn, Maya realizes the miracle wasn’t in time travel, but in the healing that happens when we open our hearts again.
Rooted in the spirit of holiday redemption films like The Preacher’s Wife and Black Nativity, The Christmas Between bridges faith and humanity — transforming grief into grace and storytelling into healing.
This isn’t just a movie; it’s a movement of hope, healing, and wholeness. Beyond the screen, the project anchors a real-world ecosystem that offers grief support circles, therapeutic retreats, and purpose-driven partnerships for families navigating loss. Through this film, we aim to make conversations around grief accessible, spiritual, and safe — especially for women, mothers, and families rebuilding after tragedy.
Every contribution helps bring this story — and the healing it represents — to life. Your support fuels not just production, but a broader mission: to remind the world that love never dies; it simply changes form.
Project Team

Sheila Michelle Foye
Creator & Executive Producer
Founder and CEO, Precis Brand of Companies
Michelle is an award-winning strategist, executive producer, and ecosystem builder merging business, faith, and storytelling. With over 25 years in strategy, healthcare, and brand architecture — including roles at Truist, Accenture, CapGemini, and major health systems — she brings deep operational, creative, and funding expertise.
She is the visionary behind The Christmas Between, extending her signature philosophy of healing through systems and storytelling into film.
📍Notable Honors: Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, America’s 100 Women to Know, Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women in Business graduate.
Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award
America’s 100 Women to Know
Goldman Sachs One Million Black Women in Business graduate.

Jennifer Pessima
Writer, Director & Producer
Founder and CEO, Jennifer Pessima Production Company (Atlanta, GA)
Jennifer is an award-winning filmmaker and rising voice in faith-based entertainment. A Clark Atlanta University alumna, she began her career producing Your World with Creflo Dollar (BET/WGN) and went on to produce projects such as This Is 30s (Tubi), The Despaired (BET+), and I Am John Gabbana (NBCUniversal Black Experience Grant Winner).
Jennifer’s direction fuses cinematic excellence with faith-driven authenticity — shaping The Christmas Between into a story of redemption, community, and hope.
Lead Characters

Maya Varner
A mother learning to love again after loss

Nicholas Dyer
A man of patience, prayer, and second chances

Nia Grace
Founder of The Renewal Project and emotional anc

Stephon Miles
The son masking grief through noise and humor

Gabrielle Williams
The loyal friend who embodies sisterhood and faith

Malik Prince
The son whose spirit guides her home

Dr. Shaunie Still
The grief counselor who teaches that healing is holy work

Faith Miles
The daughter whose resilience rekindles belief

Christian Prince
The surviving twin learning to breathe again


