Lisa Payton

Lisa Michelle Payton is an accomplished television writer and professor. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Stony Brook University, a Master of Science degree from Columbia University, and is a member of the Writers Guild of America West. Payton has taught television writing as an adjunct at Arizona State University and as an assistant professor in Media and Communications at SUNY Old Westbury.

Payton’s television writing accomplishments span both sitcoms and dramas. She most recently worked as a producer on the drama Truth Be Told (starring Octavia Spencer) for Apple TV+ and developed a pilot, The Only Black Girls in Town, with Warner Bros. Studios, Berlanti Productions, and Folding Chair Productions. Her other writing credits on prominent shows include The Kings of Napa (for OWN), Ed (starring Tom Cavanagh and Julie Bowen), MDs (starring Aunjanue Ellis and Jane Lynch), Girlfriends (starring Tracee Ellis Ross), and Living Single (starring Queen Latifah and Kim Fields), among others. Payton has also worked in non-fiction documentary and was a field producer on the Emmy-nominated film Wilhemina’s War.

Payton got her start in TV writing through the Warner Bros. Writers Workshop and completed the Warner Access Showrunner Program in 2022. She is passionately focused on developing shows that center on Black female leads and pushing the industry forward toward greater diversity and inclusivity in storytelling.

EDUCATION:
B.A.  Liberal Studies, Stony Brook University
M.S. Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism