Misplaced Pages

Lisa Joy
Joy at the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	(1977-05-23) May 23, 1977 (age 47) New Jersey, U.S.
Education	Stanford University (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Occupations	Film director film producer screenwriter
Years active	2007–present
Spouse	Jonathan Nolan ​(m. 2009)​
Children	2
Relatives	Christopher Nolan (brother-in-law) Emma Thomas (sister-in-law)

Lisa Joy (born May 23, 1977) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and lawyer. She is best known as the co-creator, writer, director, and executive producer of the HBO science-fiction drama series Westworld (2016–2022). For her work on the series, she received multiple Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Joy's other work includes the ABC comedy series Pushing Daisies (2007–2009) and the USA Network crime drama series Burn Notice (2009–2011). In 2021, she made her feature film directorial debut with Reminiscence.

Early life and education

Lisa Joy was raised in New Jersey in an immigrant family. Her father is from England and her mother is Taiwanese.

Joy graduated from Stanford University and worked as a consultant at McKinsey & Company in Los Angeles before attending Harvard Law School. Joy was admitted to the bar in 2009 and practiced law in California prior to her career in entertainment.

Career

While studying for the bar, Joy submitted a sample script for the ABC fantasy comedy-drama series Pushing Daisies. A friend passed the script along to a television producer, helping her get the job as a staff writer in 2007. She went on to become the only female writer on the USA Network crime drama series Burn Notice. She later served as a co-producer on the series.

In 2016, Joy co-created the HBO science fiction series Westworld and serves as its co-showrunner. Westworld had four seasons. The series focuses on "a futuristic theme park gone wrong where robots start rebelling against humans". The series went on to become one of the most popular series on television. For her work on the series, Joy earned nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series and Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series, among others.

Joy, along with her husband Jonathan Nolan, signed a new deal with Amazon to write and produce a series for the company. The deal is worth $150 million over five years. As a part of the deal, Joy and Nolan were announced as executive producers on a science fiction series The Peripheral and an adaptation of the post-apocalyptic video game series Fallout.

Joy's feature film debut, Reminiscence, was released by Warner Bros. Pictures in US cinemas on August 20, 2021, to mixed reviews and was a commercial failure.

Personal life

Joy married screenwriter Jonathan Nolan, the younger brother of director Christopher Nolan. The two first met at the premiere of the film Memento, which was based on Jonathan's short story "Memento Mori," and written and directed by Christopher.

The couple have a daughter and a son.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

1. Miller, Matt (September 29, 2016). "Westworld Is Not the Next Game of Thrones—It's Much More Than That". Esquire. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
2. ^ Fortini, Amanda (April 17, 2018). "With 'Westworld', Lisa Joy Is Rewriting Women's Power Story Line in Hollywood and Beyond". Elle. Joy, who is 40, was raised in a hardworking immigrant family (her dad is from England; her mom is from Taiwan) in suburban New Jersey.
3. Heather Wood Rudulph, Get That Life: How I Became the Co-Creator of Westworld, Cosmopolitan, https://www.cosmopolitan.com/career/a8664279/lisa-joy-westworld-co-creator-get-that-life/
4. California, The State Bar of. "State Bar of CA :: Lisa Joy". members.calbar.ca.gov. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
5. Goldberg, Lesley (April 22, 2020). "'Westworld' Renewed for Season 4 at HBO". The Hollywood Reporter. Valence Media.
6. Rudulph, Heather Wood (February 6, 2017). "Get That Life: How I Became the Co-Creator of "Westworld"". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
7. Otterson, Joe (April 5, 2019). "Jonathan Nolan, Lisa Joy Exit Warner Bros. TV for Massive Overall Deal at Amazon". Variety. Retrieved May 2, 2019.
8. "Kilter Films Teams with Amazon Studios to Develop Series Based on Fallout". Bethesda.net. July 2, 2020. Retrieved July 2, 2020.
9. D'Alessandro, Anthony (February 19, 2021). "Lisa Joy Sci-Fi Thriller 'Reminiscence' Sets End Of Summer Release". Deadline. Retrieved March 24, 2021.
10. "On The Rise 2014: 13 Screenwriters To Watch | IndieWire". www.indiewire.com. August 19, 2014. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
11. Gire, Jamie Sotonoff and Dann (October 18, 2016). "A-minus at Loyola Academy fueled 'Westworld' creator". Daily Herald. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
12. King, Larry (April 15, 2014). "What Does A Showrunner Bring To A Deserted Island?". Retrieved September 12, 2016 – via YouTube.
13. "Is 'Westworld' HBO's Next Big Hit?". The New York Times. September 29, 2016.
14. "Lisa Joy – Awards – IMDb". IMDb. Retrieved April 21, 2020.

External links

• Lisa Joy at IMDb
• Lisa Joy on Instagram
• Lisa Joy on Twitter

• 1977 births
• 21st-century American screenwriters
• 21st-century American women writers
• American people of English descent
• American people of Taiwanese descent
• American showrunners
• American television writers
• American women screenwriters
• American women television producers
• American women television writers
• American women writers of Chinese descent
• Family of Christopher Nolan
• Film directors from New Jersey
• Film producers from New Jersey
• Harvard Law School alumni
• Living people
• Screenwriters from New Jersey
• Stanford University alumni
• Television producers from New Jersey