Lisa J Dooley

Lisa J Dooley recently graduated with her M.F.A. from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. Before attending USC, Dooley received her B.F.A. in Drama at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. 'Ben is Dead', Dooley's graduate thesis (which she wrote and directed), stars Kaitlyn Black ('Hart of Dixie', 'Raising Hope') and Marguerite Moreau ('Wet Hot American Summer', 'Queen of the Damned'). 'Ben Is Dead' which premiered in October 2017 at the Carmel International Film Festival. In 2014, Dooley was approached by producer Mali Elfman to create a 5 minute film for the Fun Size Horror Collective, an online project that gathered 31 horror shorts from dozens of filmmakers to be released online during the month of October. Her short, 'Persephone', was featured on Shock Till You Drop, Bloody Disgusting, and distributed through Gravitas Ventures on Hulu, iTunes and Amazon.com under the Fun Size Horror: Year One banner. After buzz generated by screenings in the festival circuit, including the Mile High Horror Festival, ScareLA, and a writeup on Blumhouse.com, Dooley is currently adapting 'Persephone' into a feature film. In 2017 Dooley collaborate again with Fun Size Horror. Her short film 'Light as a Feather', an homage Nickelodeon's 'Are You Afraid of the Dark', premiered on FunSizeHorror.com as a 'Fun Size Horror' original the week before Halloween 2017. Other short films written and directed by Dooley have been featured on Cracked.com, Film School Rejects, Funny or Die, and screened at over a dozen film festivals across the country and abroad. At USC, Dooley adapted and directed Ellen Emerson White's beloved novel 'The Road Home' for her first narrative project. 'The Road Home' was an official selection of Sunscreen West, GI Film Festival, High Falls Film Festival, and the Burbank International Film Festival. While studying at USC, Dooley also served as a student assistant for Everett Lewis, award- winning filmmaker ('The Natural History of Parking Lots', 'An Ambush of Ghosts') and head of the Directing track, and worked to help increase the representation of women in Guest Director panels hosted at the school. Dooley is also a founding member of the sketch comedy troupe 'Pursued by Bear Comedy'. She founded the group with fellow NYU Alumni Kelly Landry and Craig Lee Thomas in 2009.