Lisa Joy

Lisa Joy (born May 23, 1977) is an American screenwriter, director, producer, and attorney. 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 Lisa Joy was raised in New Jersey. Her parents are both immigrants; her father is English 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.