Vivi Stafford

Writer and director of Extra Ordinary Barry, Vivi Stafford, was born in Takoma Park, Maryland, the daughter of Novarro C. Stafford MD, an anesthesiologist, and to Louise Stafford, a school teacher. At the age of 4, her parents moved to Los Angeles. Immediately upon arrival to LA, Vivi spoke constantly of how she wanted to see Hollywood. Shortly after the family's arrival, Vivi's parents took her to see the Hollywood sign and said "that's Hollywood". Her father reports that Vivi said "oh" and never mentioned Hollywood again during her childhood. She attended high school in Los Angeles. After graduating from high school, she attended college at the University of Southern California. She became increasingly interested in film and took cinematography at USC. She also studied Motion Picture make-up with William Tuttle. Meanwhile, Vivi majored in Anthropology and completed several small documentary short videos as her college assignments. Her senior thesis studied doctor-patient relationships exclusively. Her experiences in photographing and researching doctor-patient relationships inspired her to become a physician. She was granted her title of Doctor of Medicine, in 1999 by the University of Minnesota. During her first year of medical school, Vivi, participated in an educational video on hazard prevention under a grant provided by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Despite the demanding curriculum, Vivi was titled Miss Galveston and competed in the televised Miss Texas USA pageant. After being titled doctor of medicine, Vivi moved to New York City and completed her internship in general surgery at the Mount Sinai Medical Center. During her internship, Vivi was on trauma call at a level 4 trauma center on September 11. Soon after the events of September 11, Vivi realized that she wanted return to Los Angeles and pursue writing. Vivi returned to Los Angeles and enrolled in the Aaron Speiser acting studio and opened a cosmetic surgery clinic with her sister, Debra Stafford MD, a board certified plastic surgeon with the American Society of Plastic Surgery. Vivi and her sister developed a busy practice in Los Angeles. They are seen in over 14 movie theaters and by millions of viewers as the two sister physicians and surgeons who practice cosmetic skin and plastic surgery. In addition, Vivi is the youngest of four children. Her siblings are all doctor's of medicine and have all practiced medicine at a Los Angeles County medical center. Vivi is a world traveler and an expert skier. She has traveled to all the continents including Antarctica where she participated in an Australian based expedition where she photographed the wild life extensively, ice and mountain climbed. Vivi has written several feature length scripts with the goal of entertaining with health related topics. She chose Extra Ordinary Barry as her first project because she feels that it is highly entertaining, educational and includes a multi cultural story and features a multi racial cast.