Joy Lusco

Last updated
Joy Lusco
Born  United States
Occupation Director, Producer, Television Writer
Nationality American
Subject Documentary film
Television drama
Notable works We Are Arabbers

Joy Lusco, also known as Joy Kecken and Joy Lusco Kecken, is an American film and television director and writer. She often works with her husband, Scott Kecken. They worked on the HBO drama series The Wire on four of the show's five seasons.

Contents

Biography

Lusco moved with her family as a teenager to the Baltimore area. [1] In 1995, while attending Towson University, she met her future husband Scott Kecken. [2]

After graduating from college, she took an internship with the Baltimore-based television show Homicide: Life on the Street. Eventually she became a freelance writer for the show. [1] In 1998 she wrote the teleplay for episode 6.23 "Fallen Heroes: Part 2." [3] Later that year she wrote the teleplay for episode 7.08, "Kellerman, P.I.: Part 1." [4]

In 1997 she and Scott Kecken began work on a documentary film on Baltimore's "arabbers" (produce vendors who work from horse-drawn carts). [5] They also started a production company called The Film Foundry. [2] The project was funded by grants from the Maryland Arts Council and the Maryland Humanities Council. [2]

In 1998 she and Scott released the short film Louisville, starring Andre Braugher (Homicide), [2] which was screened at 35 film festivals. [5] It won best short at the New York Independent International Film Festival, a Jury Award from the Atlanta Film and Video Festival, and the Lumiere Award from the New Orleans Film and Video Festival. [2]

In 2001 she was a member of the writing staff of The Division [ citation needed ] a show about an all-female detective squad for the Lifetime network. [2] In 2001 she programmed the Women In Film and Video festival, Diverse Voices. [2] She and Scott married in 2002. [2] She worked with a Girl Scout troop in a video production on self-expression, Teen Voices. [2]

In 2002 Lusco was a member of the writing staff and the script coordinator for the first season of The Wire . [6] Lusco and The Wire creator David Simon had been writing colleagues for Homicide. [7] She wrote the teleplay for the eleventh episode "The Hunt". [8] [9] She worked as a staff writer for the season of 2002, as well. [10] She co-wrote the story and wrote the teleplay for the fourth episode "Hard Cases". [11] [12] She returned as a member of the writing team for the show's third season in 2004. [13] She co-wrote the story and wrote the teleplay for seventh episode "Back Burners". [14] [15]

Lusco joined the Advisory Board of the Maryland Film Festival in 2003. [2] She worked on Jim Sheridan's 50 Cent biography movie, Get Rich or Die Tryin' as a story consultant. [2] Also in 2003 she worked as a story producer for the A&E reality TV series, Random 1. [2]

In 2004 she and Scott had a son, Tawabi Kecken. [5] The family settled in southern Pennsylvania. [1] They continued to work on their documentary We Are Arabbers, which premiered September 9, 2004 at Villa Julie College. [5] Lusco has said that the project gave her an insight into the "hard scrabble" nature of her grandparents' lives. [5] That year she also released a short, Woman Hollering Creek , starring Larry Gilliard Jr. (The Wire); it was adapted from a short story of the same name by Sandra Cisneros. [1] It screened at the Maryland Film Festival and the Boston International Film Festival. [1]

In 2006 Lusco joined the writing staff of the short-lived NBC series, Standoff . She wrote episode 1.04, "Partners in Crime". [16]

She has co-written a feature film, Maker of Saints, which is set to star Erykah Badu. [2]

Filmography

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Joy Lusco Kecken Biography". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "About The Film Foundry". The Film Foundry. 2004. Archived from the original on 2008-08-28. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  3. 1 2 Kathryn Bigelow (director), James Yoshimura (story), Joy Kecken (teleplay) (1998-05-08). "Fallen Heroes: Part 2". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 6. Episode 23. NBC.
  4. 1 2 Kathryn Bigelow (director), James Yoshimura (story), Julie Martin (story), Joy Kecken (teleplay) (1998-12-04). "Kellerman, P.I.: Part 1". Homicide: Life on the Street. Season 7. Episode 08. NBC.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Christopher Myers (2004). "Q+A Scott Kecken and Joy Lusco Kecken". Baltimore City Paper. Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  6. ↑ "The Wire season 1 crew". HBO. 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  7. ↑ "David Simon Biography". HBO. Archived from the original on 2010-01-09. Retrieved 2007-03-10.
  8. 1 2 David Simon, Ed Burns, Joy Lusco (2002-08-18). "The Hunt". The Wire. Season 1. Episode 11. HBO.
  9. 1 2 "The Wire episode guide - episode 11 The Hunt". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-07-26.
  10. ↑ "The Wire season 2 crew". HBO. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  11. 1 2 David Simon, Joy Lusco (2003-06-22). "Hard Cases". The Wire. Season 2. Episode 4. HBO.
  12. 1 2 "The Wire episode guide - episode 17 Hard Cases". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
  13. ↑ "The Wire season 3 crew". HBO. 2007. Archived from the original on 2007-10-12. Retrieved 2007-10-14.
  14. 1 2 David Simon, Joy Lusco (2004-11-07). "Back Burners". The Wire. Season 3. Episode 7. HBO.
  15. 1 2 "The Wire episode guide - episode 32 Back Burners". HBO. 2004. Retrieved 2006-08-24.
  16. 1 2 David Straiton (director), Joy Lusco (writer) (2006-09-26). "Partners in Crime". Standoff. Season 1. Episode 4. NBC.

Joy Lusco at IMDb

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