Joy Lusco

Lusco moved with her family as a teenager to the Baltimore area.[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. Eventually she 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 began work on a documentary film on Baltimore's "arabbers" (produce vendors who work 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 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 Lusco was a member of the writing staff and the script coordinator for the first season of The Wire.[6] Lusco and The Wire creator David Simon had been writing colleagues for Homicide.[7] She wrote the teleplay for the eleventh episode "The Hunt".[8][9] She worked as a staff writer for the season of 2002, as well.[10] She co-wrote the story and wrote the teleplay for the fourth 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]

Lusco 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 southern Pennsylvania.[1] They continued to work on their documentary We Are Arabbers, which premiered September 9, 2004 at Villa Julie College.[5] Lusco has said that the project gave her an insight into the "hard scrabble" nature of her grandparents' lives.[5] That year she also released a short, Woman Hollering Creek, starring Larry Gilliard Jr. (The Wire); it was adapted from a short story of the same name by Sandra Cisneros.[1] It screened at the Maryland Film Festival and the Boston International Film Festival.[1]

In 2006 Lusco joined the writing staff of the 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]

• 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[16]
• We Are Arabbers (2004) Co-Producer and Co-Director
• Woman Hollering Creek (2004) Writer, Co-Producer and Co-Director
• The Wire (2002)
  • Episode 1.11 "The Hunt" (2002) Teleplay[8][9]
  • Episode 2.04 "Hard Cases" (2003) Story and Teleplay[11][12]
  • Episode 3.07 "Back Burners" (2004) Story and Teleplay[14][15]
• 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

Joy Lusco at IMDb