lisa kenner grissom
writer
Lisa Kenner Grissom is an award-winning LA-based screenwriter, playwright, and producer whose work explores complex social issues through intimate relationships. Her multiple award-winning short film, TATTOO YOU, is based on her Samuel French published one-act play of the same name. Full-length plays include: HERE COMES THE NIGHT, MOTHERLAND, FOUR CHAMBERS (Winner, Jean Kennedy Smith Award, KCACTF), BUILDING THE PERFECT CHAIR, and SHELTER. Her writing has been recognized as a finalist/semi-finalist by the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Ashland New Play Festival, The Lark, Playwrights’ Center, Princess Grace Foundation, Jewish Plays Project, TruVoices, PlayPenn, and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Her short plays are published by Smith & Kraus.
Lisa’s work has been presented/developed at The Kennedy Center, Antaeus Theatre Company, Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, Chalk Rep, Clurman Theater, Garage Theatre Ensemble, Inkwell Theater, Manhattan Theatre Source, Moving Arts, Palm Beach Dramaworks, The Road Theatre, and more. As a screenwriter, she is currently developing a feature screenplay called GROWN-UP BULLY (which expands the story in TATTOO YOU), and FANIA IN THE FOREST, a one-hour historical drama. Originally from Boston, Lisa is a proud member of The Playwrights Union and Dramatist Guild.
TEACHING/WORKSHOPS
Lisa is an adjunct professor for the Lesley University low-residency MFA Creative Writing Program in the Stage & Screen track, where she specializes in teaching the 10-minute play and the short film. Since 2018, Lisa has been a mentor teacher with the Writers Guild Institute, and has previously taught playwriting at Whittier College.
Lisa also teaches privately and specializes in working with writers new to the craft. Currently, Lisa is offering workshops to individuals, communities, and organizations with customized curriculum that uses her short film TATTOO YOU as a springboard for writing about the nature and impact of bullying, on both young people and adults. For more information, click here.
What People Are Saying
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Lisa is a gifted playwright.
Her facility with crafting rich dialogue and complex characters combined with her commitment to challenging the status quo makes her a powerful voice in American theater.
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Lisa's play and film, TATTOO YOU, masterfully uses the stressful situation of a high school reunion as the setting for an unflinching portrait of how bullying can impact both the victim and the perpetrator long after the abuse has ended. It forces us as an audience to consider our capacity for forgiveness, accountability and who is ultimately responsible for our individual and collective healing.
Lisa is a highly talented writer, and I can only imagine what amazing stories she has lined up for her next project.
