Melissa Russell
Keep your eyes open for a small film crew in Belmont sometime this spring, as Sharisse Zeroonian is shooting another installment of her Amazon Prime series, “One Plus One is Two.”
Zeroonian shot the pilot in 2019, and three other episodes have been produced. Zeroonian, 28, said she hopes to speed up production on what is projected to be a 10-part series.
“I have a day job, and the actors have day jobs,” she said. “I’m probably going to film this until I die.”
“One Plus One is Two” tells the story of Marielle Morin, a Cambridge woman who grew up in the 1960s and whose undiagnosed learning disability impacts her life. Although she drops out of school to work a minimum-wage job and eventually marries and becomes a homemaker, Marielle later becomes an advocate for children and a fighter for disability rights. Unfortunately, her advocacy causes her to neglect relationships with family and friends. The story is told in flashbacks while her husband and daughter write a book about her life.
“It shows her struggles as an imperfect and sometimes unlikeable character,” Zeroonian said. “It is a look at what happens when you get too invested in a cause.”
The series is based on an original stage play Zeroonian wrote in college, pursuing a degree in film and television. Episode four will include a scene shot at Belmont’s Town Hall, chosen because Zeroonian needed a room that looked like an old-fashioned office. The Select Board meeting room fit the bill, she said.
“It’s a great location for the scene — it looks historic,” she said.
Zeroonian, a Cambridge native, spent most of her childhood in Belmont before decamping to Boston University. Her family is still in Belmont, and she is well known in the area, having worked at elementary school after-school programs and the Belmont Media Center, where she learned how to produce and edit for television.
“Before the pandemic, I was covering meetings and doing news show segments for the Belmont Journal,” she said. “Then, once the pandemic happened, I was producing more at home but helping with community events like the spelling bee, concerts, and other happenings around town. I loved going to businesses and filming segments.”
Zeroonian originally planned to study early education at Boston University, but while working on her stage play, she decided to switch majors, first to linguistics, then to film.
“I thought I should stop denying myself the chance to do writing and filmmaking, even if it isn’t the most sensible of choices,” she said. “Ten years later, I’m still contemplating if it is the most sensible choice.”
Zeroonian is also working on a second project, a semi-autobiographical work titled “Nothing Solid,” in which she also appears as the main character. It is based on her experiences with mental and physical health issues, a “really rough period.”
“I had a period where things got out of control — when I felt like a failure, I wasn’t feeling well, and I was working jobs I didn’t like,” she said. “My long-suffering shrink gave stuff to help me feel better, to avoid triggers and find agency in life, to take responsibility for how things turn out. The character, however, keeps doing what keeps her in the position she is in.”
Zeroonian calls that project “dark but uplifting.”
“Healing is non-linear,” she said.
She hopes talking about her own experiences will ease the stigma associated with mental health and chronic illness. Zeroonian plans to show “Nothing Solid” on a streaming service when it is completed and offer special showings to groups.
“I hope people can find some solace,” she said. “I want to help people feel less alone and more brave.”
“One Plus One Is Two” can be purchased and viewed on Amazon Prime.
