About
Liz Fania Werner is a writer-director whose work integrates genre with character-driven storytelling and visual artistry. Most recently, she wrote and co-directed her first feature film, WAKING KARMA, a psychological thriller starring Michael Madsen, distributed by XYZ Films. Originally from the Bronx, New York, she grew up watching the X-FILES and reruns of the TWILIGHT ZONE with her family and has had a passion for sci-fi, thriller and horror ever since, in particular when it centers powerful – and even dangerous – women. Liz learned to drive when she moved to Los Angeles to attend USC’s Writing for Screen and Television MFA program where she was one of two students in her class to win an Annenberg Fellowship. Her Masters script was awarded distinction by the USC faculty and her short screenplay “Assassination of a Mathematician” won a budget of $30,000 and was produced by USC’s Peter Stark Program. She went on to work as a staff writer on the one-hour drama series RPM MIAMI (described by Variety as “’FAST AND THE FURIOUS’ meets ‘DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES’”), which aired on the Mun2 network, a member of the NBC/Universal family, as well as to pen a feature adaptation of the thriller BABYLON SISTERS, a novel by Oprah Book Club selected author Pearl Cleage.
In 2019, Liz changed course and began directing her own work with long-time cinematographer Carlos Montaner. Their first co-directing effort, “Into the Uncanny Valley,” a VERY dark comedy thriller, was featured in L.A.’s Screamfest and HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival, as well as in nine other festivals. It won and was nominated for awards such as Best Directing, Best Short and Best Actress for Kimberly Alexander. Liz has also collaborated with screenwriter Joel Wyman (FRINGE, THE MEXICAN), developed a horror feature project for DMG Entertainment (LOOPER, IRON MAN 3) and written a biopic about WNBA player Abby Bishop for Sentient Entertainment. Her original feature script, KIN, won the PAGE Award Silver Prize in the Horror-Thriller category. Liz lives in Los Angeles with her dog Spike (named after Buffy’s vampire hook-up), though she still considers herself a life-long New Yorker.