2016 Alumna
Cottage: Willow
BIO: Lisanne Sartor is an award-winning writer/director whose short films have screened in hundreds of worldwide festivals. Early in her career, she was admitted to the DGA Assistant Director Training Program, where she quickly discovered that, although assistant directing doesn’t often lead to directing, it’s good training for any aspect of filmmaking. She left ADing after seven years with a bad back, nerve damage in her feet, and a biblical appreciation for caffeine to get a UCLA MFA in Screenwriting. Her original screenplay, “Cleaverville” was produced by Alexander/Enright Productions and aired on Lifetime. She has worked with numerous production companies and participated in the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, the WGA Feature Writers Access Project and the AFI/Fox Bridge Program. She has attended Hedgebrook as well as the Gullkistan Artists Residency in Iceland, and will attend the Storyknife Writers Residency in 2021. She has taught screenwriting at UCLA, Stephens College, the Disney Launchpad Shorts Incubator and the AFI Directing Workshop for Women. She has been the Board President for the screenwriting educational non-profit, the CineStory Foundation, since 2009, and a board member since 2004. She’s riding out COVID in Los Angeles, writing her days away alongside her two sons and her beloved Boxer mix.