Lorraine’s mother was an elementary art teacher and her father sold model trains, which landed Lorraine into a nexus of art, toys, and retail.  Lorraine grew up forty miles north of New York City, on the Hudson River, and was exposed to Broadway and Lincoln Center as soon as she and her brother could sit still.

Playwriting adventures started in high school; but her first plays weren’t produced until she was a student at Smith College.  She participated in two Playwrights’ Festivals in which student plays received staged readings and the playwrights worked with visiting artists.  Lorraine spent a spring semester at the National Theater Institute (NTI) with fellow Smith student Hisa Takakuwa.  During their senior year, Ms. Takakuwa directed a full production of “When the Mice Hit the Fan”, a collection of monologues, and the one act play “Bean’s Quest”, all written by Lorraine.

Upon graduation from Smith, she won the Denis Johnston Playwriting Award for “Small Animals”, which had been given staged readings at NTI and Smith.

The Portman family moved to Saint Augustine in 1991.

A later draft of “Small Animals” was given a staged reading in Saint Augustine early in her association with Limelight Theater.  Lorraine acted on the Limelight stage and served as stage manager before moving temporarily to Tallahassee to attend Florida State University’s graduate film school.

Film was the natural next step as she continues her explorations of theater, writing, and photography.  As a graduate student, she made four short films and worked in a wide variety of capacities on countless other student films.

Lorraine won the Playwrights’ Theater of Denton New Play Competition with her full-length play, “Geek Girl and Cosmo Queen”.

After getting her MFA in Film, she started freelancing on film productions throughout the Southeast. She has worked on a PBS documentary on the history of Florida; indie films; music videos; “Flamingo Rising”, a Hallmark film directed by Martha Coolidge and shot in Saint Augustine; and Victor Nunez’s “Coastlines”.

Lorraine expanded and adapted a 15 page screenplay to create the one act play, “Sophie’s Wedding” for Limelight Theater’s first Playwright’s Festival in 2000.  During the run, a family funeral inspired a second act.  Lorraine wrote the second act and titled the now full-length version, “Saving Sophie”.  She went on to adapt the play to screenplay form.

Limelight Theater produced “Saving Sophie” for their Playwright’s Festival during the summer of 2003.

Lorraine produced and directed a film version of “Saving Sophie” on location in Saint Augustine.  “Saving Sophie” has been programmed in 26 film festivals and has won 9 awards, “Best Feature”, “Best Comedy”, “Best Emerging Director”, and two Audience Choice Awards among them.

Lorraine teaches Screenwriting, Advanced Screenwriting, & Playwriting at Flagler College.

Lorraine’s new short film, shot on 35 mm, “Wayward Angel”, premiered as an official selection of The Valley Film Festival in California and was an official selection of the Central Florida Film Festival.

Lorraine’s new play, “Barefoot”,  was produced by The Boom Theatre Company of Bel Air, Maryland.   Boom is producing her one act play “Small Animals” as part of a festival in May of 2012.

Lorraine directed a production of “Cat On a Hot Tin Roof” for Actors with a Cause.

Most recently, Lorraine directed a production of Mitch Albom’s “Duck Hunter Shoots Angel” for Limelight Theatre in Saint Augustine.  

“Peace, Love, and Law Enforcement”, one of Lorraine’s original screenplays, was BlueCat’s ScreenPlay Live!  Winner and as a result was given a staged reading at the 360 | 365 George Eastman House Film Festival in Rochester, NY.  The screenplay was also a top ten finalist in Jacksonville Film Festival’s 2012 Screenplay Competition.