Lisa Scafuro

Roles: Director

The founder of Mona Lisa Film Productions was raised in Saddle River, NJ. As a teenager, Scafuro attended The Art Students League of New York, and Ridgewood School of Photography. She received a BS degree in Design Sciences from the College of Architecture at Arizona State University. Prior to her film making debut, Scafuro began an architectural career in Philadelphia with The Kling Partnership and Ballinger Architects working with such clients as First Pennsylvania Bank and Dupont. Eventually, she returned to NYC to specialize in hospital design and construction, collaborating on projects for New York Hospital/Cornell Medical Center and Columbia University/Presbyterian Medical Center.

After seventeen years in architecture and construction fields, Scafuro moved west to Arizona to pursue her passion for writing and ultimately film making. Her friendship with Soleri also began at this time. Inspired by Soleri’s life’s work, the idea to produce the film The Vision Of Paolo Soleri, initially began in 1998 when Scafuro met Ken Burns at Taliesin for his unveiling of his documentary, Frank Lloyd Wright. Eventually encouraged by Burns, several years of research and delays later, the self funded project has finally come to fruition.

The film’s production…the process, the individuals involved, both on camera and off…..have been a challenging, fascinating, and an inspiring journey.