Lisa Brenner has built a versatile and enduring acting career spanning daytime soaps, major studio films, and independent projects, delivering memorable performances across genres. She began in New York soaps with roles on Guiding Light, All My Children (as Allison Sloan), and notably as the fan-favorite Maggie Cory on Another World. Her breakthrough came in 2000 as Anne Howard in Roland Emmerich’s blockbuster The Patriot opposite Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger. She has since appeared in films such as Cesar Chavez, Finding Home, Bad Samaritan, The Remains, and The Librarian franchise, alongside recurring TV guest spots on CSI (all three series), Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, Leverage, Perception, and The Ark. More recently, she starred as Rachel Torres in her own written-and-produced comedy One Big Happy Family (2025), showcasing her range from historical drama to heartfelt contemporary roles.

Lisa will also be producing the film, alongside the writer-director, Edina. Starting out as an actress, Lisa has since proven herself as a standout producer as well in the indie film world, championing intimate, character-driven projects that achieve strong festival success and distribution. She produced and starred in the romantic comedy Say My Name (2018), which premiered at Liverpool International Film Festival before gaining U.S. theatrical and streaming release, as well as the drama The Deal (2022). Her latest triumph, the comedy One Big Happy Family (2025)—which she wrote, produced, and stars in with Linda Lavin—earned acclaim at the Miami Jewish Film Festival and others, culminating in a successful theatrical release through Electric Entertainment. Through these and shorts like The Good Guys, Lisa skillfully navigates festivals, builds buzz, and secures distribution for passionate indie stories.

Edina was born and raised in Hungary, where her coming-of-age novel, Red Snow, became a cult favorite of her generation. She moved to Los Angeles to pursue my longtime dream of making films when I was accepted to the Peter Stark Producing Program at the USC Film School. After getting my degree, she worked with independent producers as a script doctor. She started her directing career working for her daughter, who demanded that she film soap operas she made up in her head featuring Littlest Pet Shop figures. When said daughter abandoned LPS for Minecraft, Edina ditched the plastic actors and made the leap to direct humans. She made several short films on budgets under $5K, wearing many hats: writer, director, producer, editor, casting director, and production designer. These movies had successful festival runs and were later picked up by major streaming platforms demonstrating that it's possible to create high-quality content for almost no money.

Her retro romantic comedy In a Dream had its U.S. premiere at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival and went on to screen at 30 film festivals all over the world, winning 7 awards; it is now available to watch on Amazon Prime, Cineverse, OTT Studio, Fawesome TV, Stash Movies on YouTube. Her second film, Reborn, a drama infused with magical realism also had a successful festival run and received distribution on Tubi TV, Xumo, Cineverse, OTT Studio, Stash Movies on YouTube, rlaxx TV, and Popsy on Plex. Her third film, Commonality, can be seen on AfroLandTV, Typhoon On Demand, Stash TV, Stash - Film Shorts on YouTube, OTT Studio, Fawesome TV, Anoki, Cineverse, rlaxx TV, and Box Brazil Play.

Edina wrote her first episodic show, a bilingual (English and Hungarian) psychological thriller, with development funding from the Hungarian National Film Institute. Her scree plays and films include fast-paced thrillers, tear-jerkers, raunchy comedies, and dramas infused with magical realism, but they all have one thing in common: complex female protagonists – real women who struggle, sometimes fail and sometimes succeed, but always strive for fulfillment.