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Biography
Lisa Vanco graduated Cum
Laude from Pepperdine University in Los Angeles, California, with a Bachelor of
Arts in Journalism. She obtained a full academic scholarship, was elected to
Who’s Who in American Universities, and was initiated into the Alpha Chi honor
society for her academic achievement and leadership abilities. She also won the
Editorial Leadership Award for student publications.
Her father was an
international architect who spearheaded the development of a diverse array of
breakthrough products between the 1940s and 60’s, amongst which were
pre-fabricated and solar-heated homes, and planned housing communities. In 1996,
she established Butterfly Films Ltd. in London. After having lived on three
continents, Vanco made Paris the base for her travels for 12 years. She now
lives between Los Angeles and Paris.
Filmmaking and
Photography
Vanco’s work as a
filmmaker (writer, director) and photographer has taken her across the globe.
She has specialized in human interest documentaries, and particularly, stories
of courage, all of which she has both produced and directed.
Vanco’s celebrity and
fashion portraits have been published in the U.K. in the Sunday Times Magazine,
The Independent, Debrett’s, Debrett’s Femme, and Hilton Guest magazine; in
France in Boulevard Magazine and Femme magazine; in Italy in Italian Vogue, and
in Brides magazine and Mondo magazine in the U.S.
Filmography
Highlights, Director/Producer
“LIFELINES” (2001) (30 mins., documentary)
Five stories of remarkable human courage in which “ordinary”
people perform the extraordinary feat of surmounting enormous physical
disabilities. Highlights include the story of Laetitia, a 22-year-old French
woman who overcame leukemia to live her dream to sail around the world; and
Sébastien, a young AIDS patient who spent his final years selflessly helping
others with the same affliction. Filmed in five European locations including
Turin, Italy; Cobh, Ireland; Nivelles, Belgium; and Biarritz and Aix-en-Provence
in France.
“BRINGING COURAGE TO LIFE” (2000) (52 mins.,
promo)
A series of inspirational vignettes
defining leadership through courage incorporating footage from the BBC of key
figures of the 20th century (Mahatma Gandhi, Mikhail Gorbachev, Winston
Churchill, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr., etc.), together with stories
of inspirational individuals interviewed and filmed throughout Europe
(Heidelberg, Mannheim and Freiberg, Germany; Canterbury and Manchester, U.K.;
the Pyrénées in France; and Brussels, Belgium.)
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“FOOD FOR THE SOUL” (2000) (20 mins., documentary)
Willy Duffy was no longer able to eat or drink due to the removal
of his intestines, but was nevertheless kept alive for more than a decade,
thanks to modern medical science. His positive outlook helped him to maintain
his mobility and his good humor, and he remained an active member of his
community in County Cork, Ireland. We tracked his development, together with his
nine children and grandchildren, over a period of 18 months, including a live
broadcast interview coordinated through SKY TV, Dublin.
Completed
screenplays
“MIRACULOUS SEX” (feature film)
A
dark comedic fable about a delusional call girl with a Mother Teresa complex who
overcomes ridicule and battles society’s norms to bring hope and courage to the
lives of her heartbroken clients … while gracefully teaching an unforgiving
woman of faith the meaning of unconditional love.
“GHOST BOY” (feature film)
A
Shanghai street artist unwittingly sets into motion an ancient Chinese curse
that unleashes the fury of the spirit world when love is forsaken. Mai Lei falls
under its spell and escapes to San Francisco, where her son Alex Chen and his
disturbed foster brother Frankie must unravel the mystery behind lurking ghostly
spirits while battling suburbia’s two-faced nefarious
characters.
“RUNNING THE GAUNTLET” (feature film)
Daniel, a Hollywood prince down on love's misfortune, abandons Bel
Air for Baghdad where he finds his courage and heart along the hellish highways
of Iraq in "Running the Gauntlet," an adrenaline-rush war story of the civilian
misfits who dodge death driving the U.S. military's fuel trucks against the odds
– where some go down in flames, but all go down in history. Co-written by a
real-life survivor of two years in war-torn Iraq.
“BIRTH DAY” (short film)
Night after
night, a woman of great means travels around the world in her dreams, stepping
into the skin of the most mistreated and often forgotten members of society. Her
nocturnal wanderings lead to a personal epiphany whereby she commits herself to
helping those less privileged than herself.
“LUNA” (short film, written in French)
Luna adopts a super-hero persona when the moon is full and
transforms into a cat burglar. She bestows her stolen riches upon the homeless
as they sleep but wakes to find that she, herself, is living beneath a bridge.
At daybreak, Luna discovers that in her sleep, she has adorned her fellow
homeless neighbors with more than just gemstones: she has graced her friends
with hope.
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