Jehnovah Carlisle

Jehnovah Carlisle is a writer, director, and producer. He is originally from the Bay Area, California, where he attended Berkeley High School. Carlisle graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a B.A. in Film in 2013. He graduated from California College of the Arts with an MFA in Film Production in 2015, receiving the Robert Flaherty Fellowship for his academic achievement. Upon graduating from film school, Carlisle delved deeper into his craft as a director/writer/producer. He continued to create independent short cinema within his Bay Area community that would screen nationally and internationally, winning awards at numerous festivals. In 2017, his short film The Man Who Feared won Best Local Film at the San Francisco Black Film Festival. 2018 Carlisle was awarded a San Francisco Film Society residency for his feature script, En Garde!. While developing his first feature film, Carlisle continued to create short films as a writer/director and director for hire. Carlisle moved to Los Angeles at the end of 2018 to further his filmmaking career. He began work for a Film and Television production company, Buppie Productions, alongside veteran director Gerard McMurray, where he gained 5+ years of experience in the Hollywood film industry. 2019, Carlisle partnered with Deniese Davis, three-time Emmy nominated Producer and the Founder and CEO of Reform Media, to produce his feature screenplay, En Garde!. In 2020, Carlisle's short film, Junior, won numerous awards, including the Outstanding lndie Award at the Detroit Black Film Festival, and was screened at acclaimed festivals like The Pan African Film Festival and the Montreal International Black Film Festival. In 2022, Carlisle was a finalist for the SF FILM Rainin Grant. Currently, Carlisle has optioned his feature script, En Garde!, with Deniese Davis and Tyler Perry Studios; he's also a faculty member at Mount Saint Mary's University, where he teaches classes in both Graduate Film and Creative Writing Department.