Lisa studied as a dancer at the Duke Ellington School for the Performing Arts in Washington DC. She moved to London to pursue her dance career and studied at The Place London School of Contemporary Dance. However, early in her studies an injury prevented further development and performance in her chosen artistic field.
Following her accident Lisa looked for other artistic areas that could stimulate her creatively. She returned to the Washington Metropolitan area after many years of living and working in London with no idea of what she would do in the white-collar city. By chance, a friend suggested she work with her on set as a production assistant. While working on that set and various other productions she caught the filmmaking bug and realized she could do the job if given the chance.
She decided to pursue a degree in film which turned from one into two degrees in film. Her previous thinking during her dance career was that she was the movement and now she was capturing movement. Lisa feels whole again, and says, “it is an amazing feeling to choreograph and direct movement and be able to capture it on film.” Capturing movement makes her feel like she is still dancing but instead of being in front of the camera dancing she is behind the camera capturing movement which is the dance to her.
Lisa holds a BFA in film and video. In December,2020, Lisa completed her graduate studies at Howard University receiving her Master of Fine Arts in Film. Her thesis film “HESS” received numerous post graduate accolades and in March 2021 was nominated for and received the prestigious Paul Robeson Student Awards for Best Director and Best Film. These awards speak to Lisa’s abilities as a Director and Filmmaker.