BIO
Lisa Jill Anderson (she/her) is an actor, writer and producer based in New York City, originally from Riverside, CA. She attended a high school where not one...but both of her parents were teachers, so naturally she moved across the country for college. She received her BFA in acting from CUNY Brooklyn, where she was a recipient of the Presidential and GI60 scholarships and graduated summa cum laude. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband (actor Ian Poake) and two cats.
Lisa was the founding artistic director of the indie theater company, Stable Cable from 2011 to 2019, where she produced over a dozen world premieres and countless developmental readings and workshops. She loves nothing more than working on a new play, and is a proud resident artist of New Light Theater Project.
Acting: Most recently, Lisa won Best Actress at NYC Web Fest for her role in the award winning web pilot Legit Married, which she also co-created and produced. She has performed Off-Broadway in her play Friends With Amenities (co-written and performed with Ahsan Ali, presented by New Light Theater Project at 59E59), the Time Out New York Critics' Pick everything is super great by Stephen Brown (New Light Theater Project at 59E59), Max Baker's Hal & Bee (NLTP at 59E59), and Live From the Surface of the Moon (Wild Project). TV: "Inventing Anna" (Netflix) & "Growing Up" (Disney+). She frequently collaborates with the film production company Well Dang! and has appeared in six of their shorts, including Bill & Betty Build a Pyramid, which screened at the Nitehawk Shorts Fest in Brooklyn and at the historic Chinese Theatre at Dances With Films: LA.
Writing & Producing: Lisa co-wrote the half-hour comedy pilot Legit Married, which was a finalist for the ATX TV Festival Pitch Competition. She also produced, co-created and starred in the web series version of Legit Married, which won the Audience Choice Award for Best Web Pilot at Dances With Films LA, Best Episodic Pilot at Katra Film Series, Best Web Series at the LA Independent Women Film Awards, & Best of Fest + Best Web Series at Strong Chance Film Festival. Legit Married was an official selection for 35 film festivals, including the Academy Award qualifying DeadCenter Film Fest. Her play, Friends With Amenities, co-written with Ahsan Ali, was commissioned by Pendragon Theater Company in 2023, and then went on to win the New Light New Voices Award and subsequently received two productions.