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
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'' on four of the show's five seasons.
Biography
Lusco moved with her family as a teenager to the Baltimore area.
In 1995, while attending
Towson University
Towson University (TU or Towson) is a public university in Towson, Maryland. Founded in 1866 as Maryland's first training school for teachers, Towson University is a part of the University System of Maryland. Since its founding, the university h ...
, she met her future husband Scott Kecken.
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.
In 1998 she wrote the teleplay for episode 6.23 "Fallen Heroes: Part 2."
Later that year she wrote the teleplay for episode 7.08, "Kellerman, P.I.: Part 1."
In 1997 she and Scott Kecken began work on a documentary film on Baltimore's "arabbers" (produce vendors who work from horse-drawn carts).
They also started a production company called The Film Foundry.
The project was funded by grants from the Maryland Arts Council and the Maryland Humanities Council.
In 1998 she and Scott released the short film ''
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
,'' starring
Andre Braugher
Andre Keith Braugher (; born July 1, 1962) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Detective Frank Pembleton in the police drama series '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993–1999), used car salesman Owen Thoreau Jr. in the com ...
(''Homicide''),
which was screened at 35 film festivals.
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.
In 2001 she was a member of the writing staff of ''
The Division
''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The s ...
'' a show about an all-female detective squad for the Lifetime network.
In 2001 she programmed the Women In Film and Video festival, Diverse Voices.
She and Scott married in 2002.
She worked with a Girl Scout troop in a video production on self-expression, ''Teen Voices''.
In 2002 Lusco was a member of the writing staff and the
script coordinator A script coordinator is a role in the production of a film or television series. The script coordinator is responsible for producing each draft of the script and annotating it for ease of use for the production team.
On a television series the sc ...
for the first season of ''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
''.
Lusco and ''The Wire'' creator
David Simon
David Judah Simon (born February 9, 1960) is an American author, journalist, screenwriter, and producer best known for his work on '' The Wire'' (2002–08).
He worked for '' The Baltimore Sun'' City Desk for twelve years (1982–95), wrote '' H ...
had been writing colleagues for ''Homicide.''
She wrote the teleplay for the eleventh episode "
The Hunt".
She worked as a staff writer for the season of 2002, as well.
She co-wrote the story and wrote the teleplay for the fourth episode "
Hard Cases".
She returned as a member of the writing team for the show's third season in 2004.
She co-wrote the story and wrote the teleplay for seventh episode "
Back Burners
"Back Burners" is the seventh episode of the third season of the HBO original series ''The Wire''. The episode was written by Joy Lusco from a story by David Simon & Joy Lusco and was directed by Tim Van Patten. It originally aired on November 7, ...
".
Lusco joined the Advisory Board of the Maryland Film Festival in 2003.
She worked on
Jim Sheridan
Jim Sheridan (born 6 February 1949) is an Irish playwright and filmmaker.
Between 1989 and 1993, Sheridan directed two critically acclaimed films set in Ireland, '' My Left Foot'' and '' In the Name of the Father'', and later directed the fi ...
's
50 Cent biography movie, ''
Get Rich or Die Tryin'
''Get Rich or Die Tryin'' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Interscope Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, Eminem's Shady Records, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. After signing wi ...
'' as a story consultant.
Also in 2003 she worked as a story producer for the A&E reality TV series, ''
Random 1
''Random 1'' is a documentary-style reality television series that aired from November 2005 to January 2006 on the A&E cable network. In each episode, hosts John Chester and Andre Miller travel from town to town, in Miller's real-life, rickety pic ...
.''
In 2004 she and Scott had a son, Tawabi Kecken.
The family settled in southern Pennsylvania.
They continued to work on their documentary ''
We Are Arabbers,'' which premiered September 9, 2004 at
Villa Julie College
Stevenson University is a private university in Baltimore County, Maryland with two campuses, one in Stevenson and one in Owings Mills. The university enrolls approximately 3,615 undergraduate and graduate students. Formerly known as Villa Julie ...
.
Lusco has said that the project gave her an insight into the "hard scrabble" nature of her grandparents' lives.
That year she also released a short, ''
Woman Hollering Creek'', starring
Larry Gilliard Jr. (''The Wire''); it was adapted from a
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
of the same name by
Sandra Cisneros
Sandra Cisneros (born December 20, 1954) is an American writer. She is best known for her first novel, ''The House on Mango Street'' (1983), and her subsequent short story collection, '' Woman Hollering Creek and Other Stories'' (1991). Her work e ...
.
It screened at the Maryland Film Festival and the Boston International Film Festival.
In 2006 Lusco joined the writing staff of the short-lived NBC series, ''
Standoff''. She wrote episode 1.04, "Partners in Crime".
She has co-written a feature film, ''Maker of Saints'', which is set to star
Erykah Badu
Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...
.
Filmography
*''
Motherland: Fort Salem'' (2020)
**Episode 1.05 "Bellweather Season" (2020) Writer
**Episode 1.08 "Citydrop" (2020) Writer
*''
Cloak & Dagger'' (2019)
**Episode 2.04 "Rabbit Hold" (2019) Writer
**Episode 2.07 "Two Player" (2019) Writer
*''
Tales'' (2017)
**Episode 1.07 "You Got Me" (2017) Writer
*''
Standoff'' (2006)
**Episode 1.04 "Partners in Crime" (2006) Writer
*''
We Are Arabbers'' (2004) Co-Producer and Co-Director
*''
Woman Hollering Creek'' (2004) Writer, Co-Producer and Co-Director
*''
The Wire
''The Wire'' is an American crime drama television series created and primarily written by author and former police reporter David Simon. The series was broadcast by the cable network HBO in the United States. ''The Wire'' premiered on June 2 ...
'' (2002)
**Episode 1.11 "
The Hunt" (2002) Teleplay
**Episode 2.04 "
Hard Cases" (2003) Story and Teleplay
**Episode 3.07 "
Back Burners
"Back Burners" is the seventh episode of the third season of the HBO original series ''The Wire''. The episode was written by Joy Lusco from a story by David Simon & Joy Lusco and was directed by Tim Van Patten. It originally aired on November 7, ...
" (2004) Story and Teleplay
*''
The Division
''The Division'' is an American police procedural drama television series created by Deborah Joy LeVine starring Bonnie Bedelia. The series focuses on a team of female detectives and police officers in the San Francisco Police Department. The s ...
'' (2001) Writer
*''
Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1993)
**Episode 6.23 "Fallen Heroes: Part 2" (1998) Teleplay
**Episode 7.08 "Kellerman, P.I.: Part 1" (1998) Teleplay
*''
Louisville
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border.
...
'' (1998) Writer, Co-Producer and Co-Director
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lusco, Joy
American television producers
American television writers
American women film directors
Living people
Writers from Baltimore
Towson University alumni
American women screenwriters
Year of birth missing (living people)
American women television writers
Film directors from Maryland
Screenwriters from Maryland
American women television producers
21st-century American women