Joy Lusco

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Joy Lusco

Born
Flag of the United States United States
Occupation Director, Producer, Television Writer
Nationality American
Subjects Documentary film-making, Television drama
Notable work(s) 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. She has worked on the HBO drama series The Wire as a writer on the show's first three seasons.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Lusco moved to the Baltimore area as a teenager.[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 and eventually 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 commenced work on a documentary film on Baltimore's arabbers (produce vendors working 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 she was a member of the writing staff and the script coordinator for the first season of The Wire.[6] The Wire was created by her Homicide writing colleague David Simon (who also wrote the novel that series was based upon).[7] She wrote the teleplay for the eleventh episode "The Hunt".[8][9] She returned to the writers room in 2002, spending the second season as a staff writer.[10] She co-wrote the story and wrote the teleplay for third 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]

She 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 Pennsylvania.[1] They continued to work on their documentary We Are Arabbers and the film finally premiered Thursday, Sept. 9 2004 at Villa Julie College.[5] Lusco has said that the project gave her an insight into the "hard scrabble" nature of her Grandparent's lives.[5] 2004 also saw her release a short, Woman Hollering Creek, starring Larry Gilliard Jr. (The Wire).[1] It screened at the Maryland Film Festival and the Boston International Film Festival.[1]

In 2006 she joined the writing staff of 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]

[edit] Filmography

  • Standoff (2006)
    • Episode 1.04 "Partners in Crime" (2006) Writer[16]
  • We Are Arabbers (2004) Co-Producer and Co-Director
  • Woman Hollering Creek (2004) Writer, Co-Producer and Co-Director
  • The Wire (2002)
  • The Division (2001) Writer
  • Homicide: Life on the Street (1993)
    • Episode 6.23 "Fallen Heroes: Part 2" (1998) Teleplay[3]
    • Episode 7.08 "Kellerman, P.I.: Part 1" (1998) Teleplay[4]
  • Louisville (1998) Writer, Co-Producer and Co-Director

[edit] External links

Joy Lusco at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e Joy Lusco Kecken Biography. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m About The Film Foundry. The Film Foundry (2004). Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  3. ^ a b "Fallen Heroes: Part 2". Kathryn Bigelow, Writ. James Yoshimura (story), Joy Kecken (teleplay). Homicide: Life on the Street. NBC. 1998-05-08. No. 23, season 6.
  4. ^ a b "Kellerman, P.I.: Part 1". Kathryn Bigelow, Writ. James Yoshimura (story), Julie Martin (story), Joy Kecken (teleplay). Homicide: Life on the Street. NBC. 1998-12-04. No. 08, season 7.
  5. ^ a b c d e Christopher Myers (2004). Q+A Scott Kecken and Joy Lusco Kecken. Baltimore City Paper. Retrieved on 2007-10-27.
  6. ^ The Wire season 1 crew. HBO (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  7. ^ David Simon Biography. HBO. Retrieved on 03/10/2007.
  8. ^ a b "The Hunt". David Simon, Ed Burns, Joy Lusco. The Wire. HBO. 2002-08-18. No. 11, season 1.
  9. ^ a b The Wire episode guide - episode 11 The Hunt. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-07-26.
  10. ^ The Wire season 2 crew. HBO (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  11. ^ a b "Hard Cases". David Simon, Joy Lusco. The Wire. HBO. 2003-06-22. No. 4, season 2.
  12. ^ a b The Wire episode guide - episode 17 Hard Cases. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
  13. ^ The Wire season 3 crew. HBO (2007). Retrieved on 2007-10-14.
  14. ^ a b "Back Burners". David Simon, Joy Lusco. The Wire. HBO. 2004-11-07. No. 7, season 3.
  15. ^ a b The Wire episode guide - episode 32 Back Burners. HBO (2004). Retrieved on 2006-08-24.
  16. ^ a b "Partners in Crime". David Straiton, Writ. Joy Lusco. Standoff. NBC. 2006-09-26. No. 4, season 1.